The day that never comes
by CandyGirl1980
Summary: Michael, Max and Isabel had been falling into a trap from their enemy Khivar, having sent them back on their home planet to kill them. After a long time of fighting they finally manage to find a way back to earth, just to discover that nothing was as they
1. Chapter 1

**The day that never comes**

Born to push you around  
You better just stay down  
You pull away  
He hits the flesh  
You hit the ground

Mouth so full of lies  
Tend to black your eyes  
Just keep them close  
Keep praying  
Just keep waiting

Waiting for the one  
The day that never comes  
When you stand up and feel the warmth  
But the sunshine never comes, no...  
The sunshine never comes

Push you across that line  
Just stay down this time  
Hide in yourself  
Crawl in yourself  
You'll have your time

God, I'll make 'em pay  
Take it back one day  
I'll end this day  
I'll splatter color on this grey

Waiting for the one  
The day that never comes  
When you stand up and feel the warmth  
But the sunshine never comes, no...  
The sunshine never comes

Love is a four letter word  
And never spoken here  
Love is a four letter word  
Here in this prison

I suffer this no longer  
I'll put an end to this I swear!  
This I swear!  
The sun will shine  
This I swear!  
This I swear!  
This I swear!

The desert near the town Roswell was really deserted, aside from the small creatures crawling on the hot and dusty ground and the wind blowing the sand from one point to another. Everything was silent and the only sound heard was the course of nature and animals talking to each other. Suddenly a bright light was shooting across the sky and some ray of light shone down on one of the big rocks, which was quickly followed from a low grumble that was barely audible, especially considering that no one was in close proximity to have heard it. Minutes later four people were climbing down from rock where the light had been shining on. Three young men and one young woman, who seemed to have been through a lot. Their clothes were torn, dirt and blood was sticking on them while their eyes held a terror that was making clear that whatever they had been witnessing had scarred them. As soon as they arrived down on solid ground, two of the people started to smell the air around them while the other two were keeping their surroundings in their sight, seemingly watching out for some kind of danger. When they were sure that they were safe they visibly relaxed and enjoyed the hot sun falling on their skins.

" Oh my god. I´m so happy to be here", the only woman in the group exclaimed, trying to prevent the tears glistening in her eyes to fall. Her brown hair was lifeless hanging down, covering her haggard looking shoulders and making her appear like she was one of those models having partied too much and having forgotten to eat for a few years.

The man besides her nodded his head, the smirk on his face a strange contrast to his more than dangerous looks. A scar was drawing a small thin line across his lips, which was barely visible under the stubble around his mouth while his dirty brown hair was kept together from a black leather band. " Yeah, me too".

A chuckle escaped the other man, standing a little aside from everyone else. He startled his travel companions a little with the noise and made them look at him in confusion. Smiling at them he made it obvious that he shared the same feeling, which in return wasn´t lost on everyone. " Well, it´s strange, but I feel like I had never been away".

" Probably because earth had been your home for so long", the clearly older man explained, glancing around to observe the whole wide range of nature surrounding them. The awe on his almost flawless face was making obvious that he had never been at this place before, unlike the three people coming with him.

The woman turned her attention to her company and she seemed to be glowing from the inside. Grasping the hands of the men closest to her she breathed in the unbelievable scent that belonged to this planet and especially to this town. " Yeah, we´re home again".

At that the slightly taller man scanned the area, finally realizing that a strange silence was heavily lying in the air and that it was a little weird at this time of the day. Usually the sound of driving vehicles was heard from the street, which wasn´t so far away from their place. Listening closely he noticed that something strange was going on. " Do you feel that? Something isn´t right".

" That´s probably just your imagination, Michael", the woman replied while she rolled her eyes at him, clearly used to his behaviour. Turning to the other male being at her side she gave him a look that was saying that he should do something. " Or do you feel something, too Max?".

Max strained all of his senses, having detected the same vibe as his best friend and knowing that it wasn´t good. His gut was telling him that something bad must have been happening while they had been gone. " He´s right Iz. Don´t you find it a little odd that we´re the only people here?".

Isabel had been having the same thought for a moment, but then she remembered that they were in the desert and that meant that there wasn´t usual a lot of people out here, the reason why had met at this spot when they had been younger. " What do you expect? We´re not exactly in Disneyland", glancing at the silent company having come with them, she wanted to know his opinion. " Okay Larek, what do you think?".

" I think we should find some transportation that will get us in town. Then we can think about what to do there", he was getting some disturbing signals and he knew that whatever had been going on in this town wasn´t good. Maybe it was the years of battling on Antar or his more than weird senses, but he picked up a lot of dark energy. Something that was dangerous and maybe even deadly.

Michael scanned the area, remembering that they had parked the Chevelle somewhere around before they had gone to the pod chamber that fateful day when they had fallen into an alien trap set from their enemy, which had them hauled in lightning speed towards their home planet, where they had gotten immediately thrown into some statically charged prison cell from Khivar´s men. But unfortunately there was no sign of a car near them. " Seems like we have to take a nice long walk back to town".

Max let his eyes roam the wide desert, knowing that the Chevy had to be there. Scratching his head he wondered if someone had stolen the car or Valenti had taken care of when he found it. But sadly that meant Michael was right and they had to go by foot. " Maybe we´re lucky and someone will stop by and takes us back".

" Oh I knew it. First day home and I´m already sick of the desert", Isabel complained good naturally while she started to march towards the street, hoping for the sake of her brother´s that they were right and someone would even come by. She didn´t want to imagine walking the long way to Roswell in this sun and with those clothes on her body. It wasn´t just about the fashion statement, although the army look was long gone, but the pants and the boots weren´t exactly made for hot temperatures.

Larek looked up at the sun shining brightly down at them and he was confused about the color and that it was just one. On Antar they had three suns and their color was orange. This version was ugly and made him realize that he wasn´t at home any more. " Do you even know the way?".

Max followed his sister, noticing that the chances that someone would see them were better if they were more in the open, even though he was still a little freaked that they could be discovered from their enemies and taken back to Antar, a place he never wanted to get again, at least not willingly. " Of course we do. This is our home and we know the place better than anyone".

" Yeah, besides we have done that a lot of times when we had been children", Michael could still remember the way they had marched along the highway with their little feet, not even remotely scared that anything could happen to them or that anyone could harm them. Now they knew that it had just been the calm before the huge storm.

Isabel ignored the conversation between the men, being too busy with thinking about the last moments she had spent on earth before everything had taken a turn to the worse. She had been having a discussion with Jesse about his job offering in Boston and if he should take the deal. Now she felt so stupid for trying to talk him out of it, because she didn´t want to leave everyone behind. She should have been supportive of his decision and not just think about her own selfish needs. Unfortunately she hadn´t been having the chance to tell him that or even to give him a sign that she hadn´t left him on her own free will. He probably thought she wanted out of their marriage, even though it was the last thing on her mind and she hoped that he was still loving her as much as she still loved him. Maybe they could start from anew when they talked about what happened and got out of the way her reason for disappearing so fast. It hadn´t been her intention to go just like that, but who would have thought that they would step into a trap that would lead them almost into their deaths? Thankfully they had found a way to escape, well okay maybe Larek had done the most work. But they had taken the risk to flee without even knowing what they had to expect. And now they were back where they belonged and everything else would be taking care of itself one way or another.

Max´ train of thoughts had taken the same route, thinking about the last minutes he had spent with Liz in her room and the plans they had made for their graduation. They had wanted to travel through every country in America just with a backpack on their backs and the clothes on their bodies. He found the idea more than appealing, because for one they would have been alone and two they could whatever they wanted without having to stick to some fun program. He had already made arrangements with Brody for his summer vacation and he had spent half of his earned money for an engagement ring he wanted to give Liz when the perfect moment would present itself. Unfortunately it never came to any of it and instead he had been lying in a prison cell, thinking about her and wondering if she knew that something happened or if she was believing that he found a new way home and was going back without saying goodbye to her. He had wasted hours and hours imagine Liz sitting in her room, crying her eyes out for him and letting Maria console her, both cursing his name repeatedly. Well, probably just Maria, because Liz wasn´t like that. Hopefully he still could do something to mend everything between them.

Michael was a little scared of going back, even though he was glad to be on earth again. But he was afraid to meet Maria and realize that she had moved on with her life, having figured out that he wouldn´t be coming back to her. She could be married and having children for all he knew. But he didn´t want to imagine that, the only thing having kept him sane was her face smiling at him or the sparkling in her eyes when she was pissed at him, which had happened more times than he could count. He had missed her spirit and her spunk all the time he had spent on the cold floor, fearing that his life could be over soon and he hadn´t been having the chance to tell Maria how much she really meant to him, how much she had changed him and how much he wanted to give her everything she needed. Even if he knew that she deserved better than him, he had wanted to be successful for her so that he could buy her jewels, a nice house with a white fence in the front and all the other things women loved to have. Unfortunately that had been taken away from them with just one cruel act of insanity from their enemy. Neither of them would have the life they wanted or deserved. Maybe one day they would live normally again, but until then they had to take what they would get.

" Do you think they´re still in Roswell?", Isabel didn´t want to think it, but they had to take everything in consideration. They had been gone for maybe a year and that was a long time to be away from their loved ones.

Max hoped that they were still there, but he was doubting it. They had to have moved on with their lifes and that meant for Liz to be at some college far away from her home town. But at least her parents would be here and so he could find out where she was. " I don´t think so, I mean Liz and Maria are probably on different colleges".

Michael´s expression fell when he thought about Maria being somewhere else without him, mock fighting with other guys and having heavy drinking parties every weekend, where every boy would want to be with her. " Great. And why are we on the way to Roswell then?".

" Our parents and Jim are there", Isabel felt bad for her almost brother, because the only person having kept him on earth had been Maria and now it seemed like she was not even there. But maybe Amy could help them finding her or at least tell them where everyone was.

Larek, having listened to their convesation for a while, finally registered the strange pile of wood at the side of the highway. Wondering what that thing was doing here he went to it and kneeled besides the mess. Holding his hands over the pile he felt some small spark of recognation, knowing immediately that something alien had been here. " We´re not alone".

Michael raised an eyebrow, wondering if the guy was for real. Of course they weren´t alone, they were on earth and that mean with a lot of other people. Hidding his laughter, he exchanged amused glances with the other two travellers. " Yeah and as soon we´re stepping past the Welcome in Roswell sign, we´ll even see those people".

" Don´t mock me. I´m not talking about human beings, I´m talking about aliens", Larek knew it had been a bad idea to stay with them. They were too young and too inexperienced, not like they had been in their former life. When they created the royal four they had forgotten to put their memory into them, maybe that would have helped them.

Max finally realized what the pile was, having found something that was showing him what they were looking at. Picking up a piece of the alienhead, he was stunned why the thing was damaged in the first place. Thinking about the last time anyone had even mention the enourmous alien billboard for the UFO-Center, he remembered the comment Maria had made about it. She said that she had thought the only green glowing alien penis that could harm anyone would be Michaels, which had earned her a few laughs and a death glare. Shaking his head he was a little alarmed about that it was broken and more about the fact that nobody had tried to repair the thing. " We have to get back immediately. I need to know what had been going on since we´ve been gone".

Michael glanced at the remains of the advertising for Maxwell´s former working place and he knew what his best friend was talking about. This wasn´t a good sign and he felt something dark lurking around, even if he couldn´t exactly grasp from which direction it was coming from. " I´m right behind you".

" Why are you making such a fuss", Isabel didn´t understand their strange behaviour, all she could recognize was a pile of dirty wood and nothing more. Maybe the time getting held prisoner had affected them more than it had appeared at first.

Suddenly Larek jumped to his feet, stretching his head towards the way the town was. For a moment he closed his eyes before he started to storm in the same direction without even checking if the others were following him, which they did as soon as they notice him moving. So the small group of four people was running along the highway, three of them fearing the worst and one of them total clueless about everything. That was until they all stopped in front of the city limit and stared at the ruins having been a town a long time ago. Shocked they glanced at the remains left behind from Roswell, their home and everything they had known. Not one building was standing at its place, no car was visible and definitely no people were around. The streets were empty, except for the sand covering everything and the debris laying on the ground. It felt like a ghost town and it even looked like one, as much as they could see from their perspective. Horrofied Isabel, Max and Michael couldn´t believe their eyes, hoping that it was just their imagination playing a trick on them and that what they were seeing right now was just a bad nightmare. Letting their gazes wander over the ruins, they swallowed the tears threatening to fall at seeing that the home they had been expecting wasn´t there any longer. Max crashed on his knees, trying to keep the bile rising in his throat down, thinking about his parents and Liz. Isabel stayed behind her brother, she just put her hand on his shoulder, but it was more to keep her standing than to comfort him, because her thoughts were drifting to Jesse. Michael meanwhile couldn´t accept that everyone they loved was supposed to be dead, that they were just wiped away from earth like some dirt. Leaving the others he walked unbelievingly along what had been the main street. Everywhere he looked was sand, damaged stones, broken pieces of glass and sometimes he recognized the remains of a car tire in the midst. But no sign of any people, not even the dead ones, which had to be there if they had been attacked. It was like there hadn´t been anyone in this town for a very long time. Starting to jog he was making his way to the Crash down to see what was left of it. Straining his legs as much as he could he arrived at his destination in no time. When he saw that the only thing belonging to the restaurant where he had worked for so long was the C letter from the name, he finally grasped that their lifes were over. Slumping on the ground he felt such a numbness crawling up inside him that it made him obvious to the things around him. Until to the point where he heard cars approaching from behind. Turning around he was surprised when he glanced in the barrell of a machine gun pointed at him and his friends in restrains on the backseat of what looked like a military jeep complete with the matching soldiers.

" No funny business or I will shoot you without thinking twice".

Michael saw the panic in his siblings eyes, knowing what would happen to them again. But he also noticed the slightly older soldier staring emotionless at him, making it more than obvious that he would shoot without flinching. He was torn between keeping calm and do whatever those clowns wanted from him until he found a nice chance to kill them or he could attack them and maybe risk losing Max and Isabel in the process. It was a hard decision and he just had a few seconds to do the right thing.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Michael stared at the soldier without blinking, still struggling to find the answer to his question about his actions. On Antar he wouldn´t hesistate to attack instantly, because they were all equals with their abilities, but on earth everything was off. He could risk to blast this one man within seconds, which however meant he would also risk that the other men would shoot him, Max and Isabel. Finally noticing that Larek was missing from the picture, he was sure that their old friend was planning something already, planting a few traps for their human hosts. Smiling, because he received the decision, he stood up slowly from his position and was prepared to throw an energy ball, something he had learned on Antar, when he saw that two soldiers were coming with Larek in tow. Realizing that they were blown, he bit the inside of his cheek angrily.

" Get in the car! We´ll bring you to our base. The General will want to deal with you".

Michael slightly stumbled when the soldier pushed him with his gun in the direction of the jeep. Before he however could get in, some young dude was putting some strange ropes around his wrists and bound them together. " Hey, not so tight. I bruise easily".

The boy glanced at him nervously, not even having the guts to look his captive in the eyes and instead looking at a spot a little over his opponents head, making it apparant that he wasn´t a trained soldier, but a civilist who had just gotten a weapon pushed into his hands and ordered to use it.

" Don´t waste too much time with our guest. We want to back before the sun goes down", the older soldier, obviously the leader of this little group of men, barked at his youngest member. And it seemed to work, because seconds after the snappy comment they were driving out of town.

Isabel and Max sat in the first jeep, huddled close together and praying that some idea would pop in their heads to get them out of this mess. Unfortunately their panic was making thinking to a challenge and the only thing circling in their minds was the thought that they would be getting thrown into a prison cell again or worse killed. And they didn´t even know the reason for that or what happened to Roswell in the first place. But maybe someone would be so kind to answer a few of their questions before they decided what to do with them.

Meanwhile Larek and Michael were in the other jeep, both staring out at the scenery or what was left of it passing them. Nothing was at its place, there was just a lot of destruction and death, hopelessness and fear. Michael saw the spot where the DeLuca house had been standing and the only thing that was still visible was the wreckage of the foundation. Shaking his head he was hoping that Maria had managed to escape before everything had been damaged and that she was safe somewhere, maybe with the others. Turning his head he glanced at the two soldiers sitting in the front and talking quietly to each other, probably about them and what this General would do to with the prisoner. For the first time he was miffed about the fact that he couldn´t read minds, it would help him in this situation and he could prepare himself for what they had to expect. Facing Larek he realized that the other man was trying to get the ropes off of his hands by using his powers. Sadly the ropes weren´t budging an inch and the only thing happening was that they got tighter and were cutting into his flesh.

" Great. You can´t untie yourself, because that´s an alien proved rope and the only way you get them off will be by cutting your hands off, which I wouldn´t suggest. Not because I care about you, but I´m not in the mood to clean blood from the interior of the car", the front seat passenger told them, having heard the quiet grunt of pain. He seemed to be worse than the other soldier having pushed them into the jeep.

Michael was momentarily thrown when he heard the word alien in the sentence and he wondered how the guy knew about their out of this world status. Squinting his eyes he tried to read the expression to find out if it was just a bluff or if the soldier really knew something. Sadly the face of the older man was almost set in stone and he didn´t give anything away. " I want to know why we´re getting treated like a criminal, even though we haven´t done anything".

The driver, one of the younger man, gazed through the rearview mirror at them and there was something in his eyes that made clear that he wasn´t so hardened like his companions. " Everything will be explained when we´re at the base".

" Fantastic and until then we have to guess or what? What happened to all the people in town and why does Roswell look like nobody had lived here for hundreds of years?", Michael thought that maybe they would realize that they had the wrong guys when he gave them the impression they weren´t from around, which wasn´t even a lie anyway.

The young boy shook his head, indicating that this conversation was over. He didn´t even have the permission to talk to the prisoner in the first place. All he had to do was drive the jeep and don´t ask questions. Thankfully he was spared to listen to more questions with the arrival at the base near Frazier Woods. Actually it was looking like some camping trip from the boy scouts. Tents in all sizes were standing in a circle around a fireplace while small items like water bottles and coolers were strewn on the ground, all in all making a pretty innocent appearance. That changed the moment they parked the jeeps side by side and as soon as everyone was out of the vehicles, the muddy floor under the cars was opening up and swallowed them quickly. Michael, Max and Larek were impressed about the technique and Isabel was too scared to notice anything besides the guns from the dangerous looking men. Unfortunately they didn´t have too much time to watch the ground getting back to its former state, because the soldiers dragged them in the direction of the biggest tent on the campside. The leader of the small troop stepped forward as soon as they were inside and glanced in the mirror which was hanging at south wall. For a moment the aliens stared unbelieving at the scene, wondering why the guy was gazing at himself. But then some sort of scanner was running in a green stripe across his face and seconds later the ground opened up from again, this time something came up instead of getting down. It looked like an elevator just without the cables pulling it up and it was a little bit bigger with glass doors instead of metal ones. Waiting until the cabin opened the humans each held tightly onto one of the aliens, preventing them from escaping. Pushing them inside the elevator the older soldier bent down towards a small speaker in the wall.

" Tinkerbell".

The younger men started to grin at that, usually having so much fun when they heard the codeword for the elevator from their commander mouth. It was always such a pleasure to hear him utter such a delicate word, remembering that most of the time he cursed like a sailor. Feeling his heated gaze landing on them, they immediately tried to hide their amusement and concentrated on something else. After the cabin was moving the mood changed and everyone was keeping a straight face again. Seconds later they came to a halt in front what looked like a long hallway, with a lot of uniformed people scurrying around. As soon as they came out of the cabin the noise of many voices was filling the air, the smell of gunpowder and soil was wafting through the hall.

" Move it. We don´t have all day", the aliens instantly got in gear and started walking over the muddy ground, watching the men and women staring at them when they passed or some of them even glared, seemingly thinking they were the enemy while some didn´t even take notice of them, obviously too busy with their own task to wonder about the new arrivals.

Then they stopped in front of a large heavily looking steel door with two guards on each side. They immediately drew their weapons when they noticed the group of people they didn´t know. They just relaxed when they realized that each person was tied up and some of their own men were present. Nodding at another they got permission to enter. Slowly they stepped inside the room, which seemed to be an office. A expensive looking desk was standing at the far wall, at the right side was a small table with bottles of what looked like whiskey and glasses on top. And on a huge chair was someone sitting with his back turned to the people having come in.

The oldest soldier walked around the group and went to the desk. " General. We have found another batch of aliens".

" Yeah I know. I´ve felt them as soon as they had hit earth", the chair turned around and the occupant of the said thing got on his feet to make his way towards the captives to enjoy the shock on their faces from a closer point. He knew that they hadn´t expected to see him ever again.

Michael nearly forgot to breath when he looked in his own face with same expression and the same damn smirk. Except for the short haircut and the neatly shaved skin, it was him exactly to the T. And immediately he knew who was standing in front of them, relishing the fact that they were at his mercy. " Wonderful, my loser dupe. I should have known that you would want to play the boss".

Rath stopped in front of his twin and smiled at him, keeping himself from chuckling amused at the other man. He knew that his lady wouldn´t like it and she would scold him for behaving like a child. Instead he folded his arms over his chest and glanced at his opponent with a raised eyebrow. " Yeah well, if you would have stopped playing the babysitter for King weakling, you could be on my position right now".

" Thanks, but no thanks. I´d rather keep my hands clean", Michael didn´t want to imagine what the other man had done to get at this point, how many blood was sticking to his dupes skin and how many people he had killed. No person trying to murder someone else because of selfish motives could be doing anything without having good intentions.

Rath couldn´t contain his laughter any longer and he started to let everything out. They were so much alike that he regretted having not such a special bond to his twin, they could have done a lot of damage in his old days. Getting himself under control again he turned to his men. " You´re dismissed. I can handle them alone. And sent the Princess to me".

The oldest soldier nodded before he took his younger companions and left the room without hesistating. He trusted his general to know what he was doing and capable of taking care of this situation without them.

" Okay now that we´re alone. I want to know what´s going on here, what you´ve done and who died and made you king?", Michael refrained from asking about the others. A part of him didn´t want to know what had been happening to them and another part didn´t want to get his friends in trouble by getting the attention of the enemy drawn in their direction.

Rath walked back to his desk and sat on the surface, making sure not to disorganize his papers with the position of his rival´s army. He didn´t have time to rearrange everything again and he didn´t want to get in trouble with his girl for making more mess. " Firstly I´m the General and not the King. Secondly you missed a lot when you were up there and thirdly I´ve done nothing".

Max, having been pretty quiet the whole time because he couldn´t forget that this guy had wanted to kill him for some strange reason, finally found his voice again. He knew that Michael wouldn´t get anything out of his dupe, he wasn´t exaclty the calm one. " Fine. But we just came back to this destruction and we want to find out what had happened".

" All right", Rath waved his hands in their direction and instantly the ropes around their wrist fell away, which the four people acknowledged with a sigh of relieve. Rubbing their sore skin they stared at something they could use as a seat. Seconds later four white chairs made themselves visible and everyone took place there while their host tried to find the right words. Breathing deeply in, he thought it was better to just jump in the water. " Okay, here´s what I remember. Me and Lonnie were travelling around, minding our own business when some dude approached us, warning to run as fast as possible away from this spot. At this point we realized that we were pretty close to Roswell and that people left the town in a hurry and I mean really in a hurry. F***ing human beings didn´t even look after everyone else, they just wanted to be as far away from the place as possible, no matter the cost. Of course Lonnie and I had to check out what was going on and we found the small town totally wrecked, flames were shooting out of buildings, screams were heard over miles and dead bodies were lying around. In the middle of everything we found a group of people armed to the teeth fighting of a troop of seemingly evil aliens. By closer looking I saw that it was the british museums guy, the sheriff, some jock, some latino, the brown-n-boring chick from the king and the blonde firecracker with some other people. I knew they were losing and I was in the process to turn around and mind my own business again. Until I heard his voice, the voice of everything I hated. Khivar had decided that now that you had been gone the granilith and the only one able to use it would be his without any problems. Unfortunately he hadn´t counted that the humans would fight him and that´s what they´re doing for four years now".

Isabel just heard the date and she startled, thinking that they had been gone for one year top. But if this was true then it meant that time was going not so fast on Antar like here on earth, which in return was making her feel more guilty for just leaving them to deal with their enemy. " How long have we´ve been away?".

Rath counted quietly in his head the days before he came to Roswell and the years he was now here. Counted with the months he was leading this operation he came to a long time. " Almost five years".

" Oh god!", Isabel was glad to be seated because she was sure her legs wouldn´t have held her weight anymore at this moment. Five years they had been away from home, away from their friends, their lovers and most importantly their families. " Where are the others? Are they still alive?".

Michael couldn´t grasp the information to the fullest, everything was swirling around in his head and he wasn´t able to think clearly. But one thing stood out from all the facts, something about the granilith and the only one able to use it. " What do you mean with the granilith? Didn´t Tess fly away with it? And who is the one able to work it?".

Rath shook his head, wondering how these people had survived for so long with the few knowledge they had. But after what he heard it was the fault from their protector, who was more foe than friend. " No, the thing Tess was flying away was the transporter. The granilith is still here on earth. To be exact it´s here with us, pretty good hidden and heavily guarded".

" Oh damn".

Rath was just in the process to second that comment when the door opened and some small person stormed inside with quick steps, making it apparent that there wasn´t any time to waste. " I hope for your sorry ass that you have a good reason get me away from the few free minutes I have".

Three people immediately gasped at seeing the familiar face again.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Hey ladies I´m back and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others before. Special Thanks to RedJewel2662, pingan89 and Scorpio6.

**Chapter 3**

The highly annoyed person camed to a halt when it was very apparent that they weren´t alone and that they had a small group of spectactors. Glancing at the people having stood up from their seats the color disappeared from the face and the shock was visible to everyone in the room. For a few moment´s it looked like there would be an emotional outburst, but that went away as soon as it got obvious that the said person had regained the composure again. Stepping closer to Rath to get a nice distance there was a beat of silence before the bomb detonated.

" What the hell is going on here?".

Rath had already expected such a reaction from his second in command and immediately was at the side of his mate, preventing a nasty confrontation. He knew how tightly wound the person besides him could be and that it wouldn´t take much to let everything blow up. " Maria, babe calm down. We´ve got guests and I thought you would want to welcome them properly".

Maria eyed these people standing in front of her correctly and she had to admit they were looking real. But she had been told that they had died on Antar and that they would never come back. She had accepted it, after a long process of raging with the knowledge to have lost so many people she loved and now she had pulled herself through. " How can you let them in? They´re shapeshifters. How can you let them near Xander and Cordelia?"

" They´re not shapeshifters, they´re real. You know I would never let anything harm the squirts", Rath took her face in his hands, glancing deep in her eyes to show her that he meant what he said. He knew how much she had suffered when she heard about the death of her friends and how long it taken her to get over the pain, he would never willingly hurt her and she had to know that by now.

Maria shook her head, not able to believe it yet. She had given up on dreaming about them coming home and everything would be alright again. But damn, she had never stopped wishing them to be alive and finding a way to contact them one way or another. " How...But...but Khivar told us that he killed them".

Rath grinned at her stubborn nature, knowing that it was her survival instinct kicking in. Since the day she had witnessed her mother and Jim burning in some cottage, she had hardened herself and the innocent part of her had died. She was a fighter, but a small part of the old girl was still somewhere and he was glad about the fact. " Shocking, he lied to us".

" That means they´re real", Maria felt tears filling her eyes, but this time they were happy tears. Pushing herself away from Rath she turned to the group and faced them, trying to read their expression. As soon as she saw the concerned gaze of Michael, the confused one from Max and the happy from Isabel on her all of her restrains broke. Without giving anyone a warning she stormed towards them and threw her arms around everyone. " I´m so glad that you´re alive. I´ve missed you so much".

Rath kept in the background and glanced at the small picture on his desk to avoid seeing the happiness in their expressions. The picture was of him, Maria, Xander and Cordelia at their third birthday. They had been having a huge yellow cake with pink unicorns and blue racing cars. Before the kiddies had been able to blow out the candles a food fight had broken out. In the end he and Maria had been smeared from head to toe in cake while Xander and Cordelia had been hiding under the table to avoid getting hit. The camera had captured the moment the children showed their amusement about the grown ups covered in food pretty good. But this would be over now and he was okay with it. This thing with Maria hadn´t been anything steady anyway, the only thing keeping them together had been sex and their work, nothing else. Great, now he was lying to himself already. Of course he wasn´t okay to lose her to his dupe, having developed deep feelings for her and for him that meant a lot because he usually didn´t care about anyone else. But the things they had went through, the things they had seen had bound them together very tightly. He respected her opinion and she was the only person able to bear his grumpy mood without flinching like everyone else. " Hey Tinkerbell, I have to be at the war room right now. Can you handle them alone?".

Maria whirled around and glared at him the moment he had uttered that name, which she hated. It made her feel small, defenceless and childish. She didn´t know why he called her that, but he thought it was fitting her. She hadn´t ask why he thought that, because she didn´t want to know it. " Would you stop calling me that, Grumpy bear. And yes I can handle them alone".

" Be careful and we´ll see each other later at the dining hall", Rath was aware that he shouldn´t do it, but he couldn´t control himself. Walking towards her he gave her a short kiss with a little tongue before disappearing with a wide grin on his face.

Maria watched after him with an amused expression, shaking her head at his kind of humor. That guy was attracting trouble like the light the moth. Strangly she didn´t know if she would have surived the last few years without him at her side, picking her up when worry and fear threatened to crush her. He was her best friend and her confident. " Don´t mind him, I haven´t managed to train him completely, I´m still working at the ankles right now".

Michael didn´t like the fact that Maria was so close to his dupe and that they seemed more intimate than he was comfortable with, even if the greeting had been warmer than he had thought. " Uh, do you mind telling us what´s going on here?".

" Didn´t Rath tell you already about Khivar and his great attack?".

Michael hadn´t been talking about the war going on at the surface or that the town he had grown up in was just gone. He was talking about the fact that someone looking like him was too cozy with the woman he loved. " Yes, we got that. But what I want to know is why are you and Rath so couply. I mean the last time the guy had tried to kill Max".

Maria had waited for that question to pop up, but she had thought it would come from another person. Rolling her eyes she wasn´t in the mood to warm up old things that were so long in the past that it felt like it had happened in another life. " I lot had been going on since then, people change and so do lifes, you of all people should know that".

" Hey before you two start your weird bickering fetish again, I want to know where the others are", Isabel was glad to see that her brother and Maria were back in their old roles, but she needed to find out what happened to the rest of their friends and their parents. Of course she needed to know if Jesse was still alive.

Maria had forgotten that she wasn´t alone with Michael in the room and so she was a little startled when another voice penetrated her ear. Smiling sheepishly at the tall blonde, she tried to remember that she wasn´t the sixteen year old teenager with her crush for the bad boy in school anymore. " I think Jesse is negotiating contracts with the military from the east coast right now. Kyle is at the weapon training with Ava, Sean and Laurie are probably annyoing the staff with their constant fighting and Brody is taking charge of the computer program".

Isabel´s expression brightened instantly when she heard the name of her husband, relieved to know that he was indeed alive and so close to her. But the joy wasn´t for long, because she remembered that she just disappeared on him without warning him beforehand and then he got told that she was dead. She wondered how he would react to her appearance. " Is Jesse seeing someone?".

" Don´t worry, he´s still wearing his wedding band and he sleeps with your wedding picture, so I think he will be delighted to see you. If you want I can bring you to him, I have to go in that direction anyway", Maria had to release Sean and Laurie from their babysitting, knowing that the kids could be a handful and especially with those two. Xander played a lot with his powers while Cordelia just watched fascinated. They both were like brother and sister, even though they weren´t blood related. Kyle already thought the two of them would date someday when they were much older.

Max finally realized that she had forgotten to mention a few names and he feared that it didn´t mean anything good. But he had to find out what happened to the other people she had missed to say. " What about the others? Jim, our parents, your mother. Liz".

Maria´s eyes immediately turned a shade darker and bad memories were clouding her mind. She still mourned the losses they had suffered, even after all the time passing and it was still painful to talk about concrete things, especially knowing that she had been there when they died. " Diane and Jeff are in the dining hall preparing dinner for tonight. Everyone else is dead".

" I´m so sorry", Michael saw the unshed tears glistening in her eyes and he took her arm to pull her towards him. Embracing her tightly he felt her pain pouring onto him for a moment before it stopped. Stroking her back softly he was stunned to notice that it still felt right to have her in his arms, that nothing had changed between them and that she obviously felt the same.

Max hit the knowledge that his father and Liz were dead pretty hard. Struggling with the thought to never see them again, he felt regret for all the things he had said to his father or the time he let himself be pushed away from Liz. They both had wanted to marry as soon as they were finished with College. He couldn´t believe that this wasn´t possible any longer. Sitting down he broke down, the many hits he had taken over the years were finally taking its toll on him. Isabel was immediately at his side, her own tears blurring her vision when she thought about her father and the fights she had been having with him because of her wedding. And even if she hadn´t been having such a tight connection with Liz, she felt her death deeply.

Maria released herself from her comfortable embrace when she heard the sobs. Seeing the siblings crying in each others arms she felt sympathy towards them, because she knew how it felt to lose someone. Deciding to give them a little time to grief she turned her attention back to Michael. Halfway she finally noticed the quiet man a little offside and his eyes were seeminly studying her. " Uh, who are you? I don´t think we´ve met".

" Oh yes we have, even if it wasn´t exactly eye to eye or personal", he stood up and offered her his hand, which she took without hesistation. " I´m Larek". He smiled at the woman he knew so much about through Brody and he had to admit that the human guy hadn´t exaggerated in that area. She was the most beautiful sight he ever saw, even if her beauty wasn´t just about appearance.

Maria chuckled amused, wondering how Brody would react to the news that the alien having possessed him a few times was under the same roof as him. She couldn´t wait to introduce those two and see what would happen. " Nice to finally have a face to the name".

Michael was just in the process to let out some snappish comment about all those men circling around Maria like some vultures over dead meat, when the door opened with a loud bang, startling everyone in the room and two small children stormed inside.

" Mummy, Mummy. Uncle Sean is mean. He said that I wasn´t allowed to play outside", the young boy went to Maria, stretching his arms out to get picked up from his mother. Smiling she lifted the little guy and hefted him on her hips.

Maria should have known that she shouldn´t have left her cousin to take care of the kids. But she had thought with Laurie there and all they would manage. Obviously she had been wrong about that. " Sweetie, we talked about this already. You can´t go outside, not yet. It´s too dangerous and I don´t want you to get hurt".

The boy pouted, his brown eyes sparkling sadly, making it hard for his mother to resist. He was looking like his father and he knew how he should play his cards right to get what he wanted, a trait that wasn´t from either of his parents. " I know. But I want to see the sky and get dirty".

" Honey please. I promise you that one day I will make it up to you, but today you have to listen to me", Maria hated to be the one keeping the boy from a normal life. But he wasn´t exactly a normal child and so they had to be special careful with him. Besides he was too precious for them to take the risk of him getting killed, hurt or kidnapped.

The girl at her feet started to laugh at the behaviour from Xandar, thinking that he was acting like a baby. And she hated to have the attention drawn away from her, she was after all the only fairy here. " Stop whining. I told you she wouldn´t allow us to go up".

Maria put the small guy back on his feet, because he was getting too heavy for her before glancing at the younger version of herself, well the blue eyed and brown haired version that was. She couldn´t believe that she even had to the same attitude. " Cordy stop treating him like that".

" Mummy? Who are they?", Xander finally registered the added people in the room and he immediately hid behind Maria´s legs, peeking his head out from time to time to eye the guests a littler better. He had never seen them and he was scared of strangers.

Maria kneeled between the children to give them the full view on the group of people they didn´t know. It was so weird to introduce her friends to her small family and vice versa. " Guys, this is my son Xander and my sister Cordelia", after she received a few winks from the adults and a nodding from the children, she pointed at the mention person. " This is uncle Larek, aunt Isabel, uncle Michael and uncle Max", turning her attention complete on the boy she knew that it would be a shock for everyone. " Xander, do you remember the talk we had about your real father, the one in the stars?".

Xander nodded his head before his eyes settled on the surprised faces from the two younger men staring at him. He knew that one of them had to be his father, his mother had told him everything and he couldn´t wait to find out which one of them was his daddy. " Yeah, you said he wasn´t able to come back".

" Yes, but he found a way", Maria took the little boys hand and walked with him in the direction of her friends. Feeling bad for the hopeful glance in Michael´s eyes she looked at Max. " Max, meet your son".

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Max felt like he got sucker punched in his gut when he heard those words from Maria, thinking that there has to be some kind of mistake. That son couldn´t be from her, because they never had sex with each other. There hadn´t been anything outside the small kiss they had shared the summer Liz went to Florida and Michael ignored her existence. But firstly that had been a hell of a long time ago and you can´t get pregnant from a kiss, even if he wasn´t exactly normal. Turning his face to his best friend and brother he saw the confusion, the hurt and the anger in his glance. Opening his mouth to reassure Michael that there had to be a mix up, he didn´t get the opportunity to say anything in the first place. Feeling a tucking at his pants leg he looked down at the small boy, who was stretching his tiny arms in his direction.

" Daddy up".

Max didn´t hesistate for a moment and lifted his son in his arms, feeling instantly the connection between them and he knew that he was holding his and Liz child. Relieve was spreading through his complete body and made him smile brightly. " Hey Xander".

Maria was glad to see them both hitting it off so well so quickly. She had thought it would be maybe awkward when they would meet each other, but she was happy that she had been wrong about that. Grinning at father and son she saw from the corner of her eyes that one person wasn´t exactly amused about this new developement. Thankfully someone disturbed the silent moment before Michael could ask her any questions.

" Hey Ria, there´s a small problem with Rath and Billy, again. Could you be a doll and do something. You know what happened the last time", a woman in her midthirties with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes stormed into the room, her expression grim and her well built body ready to attack anyone daring to come near her.

Maria groaned annoyed, knowing exactly what the other woman was talking about. Both men were clashing against each other since the day they met and nobody knew the reason for the tension between them. Oddly it was usually Rath that was starting a fight in the first place and Billy just reacted to the verbal abusing. " Great. What are they fighting about this time?".

Unfortunately the question was lost on the person having brought the news, because she was too busy with staring at the group of people standing in their midst and appearing more alive than she ever saw them. Shocked she glanced at everyone, clearly not believing her eyes. Facing her friend to make sure that she didn´t imagine things she saw the barely visible nod from the girl. " I thought they were dead".

" We all thought that", Maria knew that she would hear this question more times today and that the reaction would usually be like that, too. She wondered how long it would take before the whole compound knew about the arrival of the royal four and how many introductions she still had to make. " Guys I don´t know if you remember her, but that´s Serena. She had been a friend from you in your past life".

Serena saw that they didn´t remember her in their eyes and for a moment she felt a stabbing pain when her gaze landed on Zan´s or how he was called on earth Max. He didn´t know her and that after they had spent so many tender moments with each other, okay his former self on Antar. But that didn´t make the pain lessen, even though Rath had already told her that this batch didn´t remember anything from their past lifes. " Good to see that you´re not dust already", in the process to turn around to take care of the current situation she finally noticed the slightly older man. " Brother dear? What are you doing here? Didn´t you tell me you would never leave our planet?".

Larek rolled his eyes, because he should have known that she would be the first to take the spaceship away from their home. No wonder he hadn´t been able to find her in the mess of the destruction Khivar had left behind on Antar after he had found another place to play. " Yeah well, what can I say. I thought a little change of scenery would be good for my skin, sister dear".

" Sorry to interrupt your family meeting, but I need to know where the two male dogs are so that I can pull their claws out", Maria couldn´t waste more time with staying here, the last time she had come too late they had to get Billy to sickbay to stitch up a bloody wound above his eye and cast his wrist. She didn´t want to imagine what would happen when she wouldn´t interfere.

Serena had almost forgotten that she had been coming for another reason and immediately felt bad for getting so side tracked from their new guests. " They´re in the common room. Kyle and Sean are trying to keep them apart, but I don´t think they´re strong enough to manage that".

Maria knew why that was, it was because Sean and Kyle loved to see Billy getting beaten up from the more than obviously stronger Rath and they enjoyed to see the other man suffer. Men, she didn´t know why she hadn´t become a lesbian with all the male tension driving her crazy. " Great, just what I need. Well it looks like I have something to do".

" You need me to come with you?".

Maria turned to the only female in this room able to kick Rath´s ass aside from her of course and thought about the offer. At first she believed it was a good idea to have her tag along, seeing as Billy was her boyfriend. But then she needed someone she trusted to help her friends around the confusing hallway´s. " Nah, I can handle them. But you could show our guests our home and find a room for them".

Serena was glad to hear it, because as much as she usually wanted everyone to believe that she was a tough girl, she was afraid of Rath when he was angry. The only person she had witnessed was able to calm his inner beast had been Maria and she often used her female charme to distract him. " All right".

" See you all later in the dining room", Maria was already preparing herself for the upcoming challenge and she knew that she couldn´t talk Rath out of his rage with the promise of sex or even something kinkier this time. It would be weird to be intimate with him while her ex lover was near.

Michael didn´t want to wait for his answer for such a long time and before anyone could stop him he was storming after her. He wanted to know a few things that were bothering him and he needed to know them immediately. " Hey wait!".

Maria had been sure that he would follow her after she had seen his expression when she had told Max about Xander. She was aware of the fact that he thought she had been unfaithful to him and that with his best friend, even though he should know her better than that. She had never done that and she wouldn´t do that in the future. " I know what you want to know and no I´m not the real mother, Xander is Liz´ child and yes Rath and I are intimate with each other".

" I didn´t say anything", but he was happy to know that it wasn´t her child and that his first thought had been right, even if he had to admit he should have never doubted her and his best friend in the first place. The other confession had been hard, but to be expected. Five years was a long time and he couldn´t expect her to live abstinent. Besides it had been with his dupe and she had thought he was dead.

Maria didn´t need to hear him say anything, she could read the guy like a book now. And it didn´t hurt that she had accidently gotten powers and was able to read thoughts, which she of course didn´t use for her own amusement, just here and there. " You didn´t had to. I could see it in your eyes. You´re not so hard to read like you´re thinking".

Michael was glad to see that they were still on the same page and that some things never change, no matter how much time had passed. Smiling at the knowledge he felt pretty good for the first time in years, even if they were in the middle of a war. " And who´s better in bed. Me or Rath?".

" Uhh, I can´t believe your asking me that", and it was more unbelievable that Rath had asked her the same question after they had slept with each other for the first time. They both were more alike than they thought. Great, what she just needed, two of them annoying the hell out of her.

Michael couldn´t leave that question unanswered and he was sure he would bug her until she told him what he wanted to know. She was maybe stubborn, but still not as much as he could be. Unfortunately he didn´t get the opportunity to get a few information out of her, because they finally arrived at the common room. Stunned his eyes landed on the huge space filled with gaming machines, pool tables, computer consoles and comfortable looking furniture, everything painted in manly colors. It was the dream of every man and here it had been coming true. " Oh wow, I died and gone to heaven".

Maria rolled her eyes, not knowing why men were exaggerating when it came to games, cars or sport, but as soon as they to show sympathy for their significant other they were too controlled to let their emotions out. " Men!", ignoring the dazed look in Michael´s eyes she went deeper into the room, immediately hearing two angry voices getting louder and louder. Seconds later she even saw the dumb dogs barking at each other and went in their direction. She just came right on time to see Rath breaking away from the hold Sean had been having on him and swinging his fist towards Billy, who was thankfully still held back from Kyle via a cue from the pool table. Stepping in between she absorbed the punch in midair and pushed the rowdy back in her cousin´s body. Glaring at both men she let her gaze wander from one to the other. " What the hell do you think you´re doing here? Can´t you for once act like civilized people? Is it too much to ask to behave like adults? For god´s sake not even Xander and Cordelia are acting so childish like you two".

" Then I suggest you should take better care of your lover. He´s letting his sexual frustration out on me", Billy wrenched himself out of Kyle´s arms, angrily wiping smeared blood away from his nose. The hard punch had probably broken something and he had problems to breath right, but he was still able to take the bastard down.

Rath was instantly ready to attack the scumbag again, which only got prevented from Maria´s use of physical strength. She braced her complete body against him to stop him from doing something stupid. For a moment it looked like she was losing, seeing as Rath was taller and stronger. Michael was already in the process to interfere to save Maria from the struggle, but then he noticed his dupe relaxing when she whispered something to him. At that the situation wasn´t so strained anymore and everyone seemed to breath out relieved.

Kyle finally put the cue away and noticed that a new face was present, well not exactly new but he hadn´t seen it for a while now. Rubbing his eyes he wanted to make sure that it wasn´t his eyes playing a trick on him. After he realized that it wasn´t his imagination, he found the reason why Rath had been more aggressive than he was used to. " Well, well. If it´s not Guerin back in action. Tired of getting treated like royals or do you think you should spread a little cheer down with us merely humans?".

" Kyle! Don´t you start, too", Maria knew that she had to do something immediately or else another fight would be taking place and she wasn´t in the mood to step in between again. Even though he was aware that the aliens hadn´t left earth on their free will, she knew that Kyle still blamed them for the loss of his father. " Do me a favour and bring Billy to sickbay. And then we´re meeting in my room. We have a few things to discuss".

Seconds ticked away in which it seemed like the human boy would complain. But then he nodded in agreement, knowing that it wouldn´t get him anywhere to mess with her in the first place and dragged Billy with him out of the room without saying anything.

Breathing easier Maria turned to Rath and seeing for the first time the cut on his right eyebrow. Stepping closer to him she took his face in her hands and eyed the damaged there, making sure that nothing was seriously wrong. Noticing that it didn´t look too deep aside from the bleeding, she tried to remember to send him to Ava later to let her check it out and make sure that everything was clear, at least on the outside. " What has gotten into you? Why do you let him get to you? How many times do we have to repeat this conversation?".

" He was talking shit about me and I wasn´t ready to just take it", Rath winced a little when she came to the spot from the cut and he felt pain shooting through his nerves. He wasn´t usually someone whining about his injuries, but this time it really hurt like hell. The cue had been hitting a pretty delicate point.

Maria sighed disappointed and a little unhappy about the whole situation. She knew that she couldn´t change him and she didn´t want him to, but it would be nice to go a day without interrupting them bashing their heads together. She didn´t know why they both hated each other so much, but she knew that it had to stop. " Ignore him. Everyone else does that. Smile at him and walk away when he tries to provoke you. Can you do that for me?".

Rath glanced in her vivid green eyes and he saw how much this fighting was weightening on her. He knew that she wasn´t very happy when their was tension among the group, but he couldn´t bring to be nice to Billy boy, the guy was rubbing him off the wrong way and he didn´t know why, which was irritating him to no end because it was driving him almost crazy. Unfortunately Maria´s feelings were more important to him than his own. " I will try it. But I can´t promise you anything".

" You´re the best", kissing him quickly she smiled when she realized that he just agreed to play nice for her. Caressing his cheeks with her fingers she wondered what the future would hold for them, now that Michael was back in the picture and what it would mean for her and Rath. " Now go to Ava, she should take a look at the scratch. And I don´t take no for an answer".

Rath knew when it was time to surrender and this was obviously one of the times. Grumbling quietly just to let her think he wouldn´t just do what she wanted without putting up a little resistance he made his way out of the room. As soon as his back was turned to her, his playful expression disappeared and his eyes started to get that sad look that he had sporting since Michael had come back.

Maria watched after his retreating back and she saw the slump on his shoulders, recognizing the stance immediately and making her realize that he was thinking about the same thing that was plaquing her mind right now. She wished she could reassure him that nothing would be changing for them, that everything would stay as it was the last two years. But she knew that it would be a lie. Glancing at Michael she felt like the teenager that had left twenty phone calls on his answering maching or tried to explain to her mother why there were bullet holes in her car. Feelings that she thought she had buried were coming back to the surface and things she didn´t want to remember threatened to overwhelm her. Shaking her head she reminded herself that she wasn´t that girl anymore and she was wiser and more confident with the role in her life. " I think it´s time to show you your room. I believe you would want to take a shower and get new clothes before we eat".

" You love him, don´t you?", Michael was rather clueless about that things, but the look in their eyes was so visible that anyone could see what they were feeling towards each other. Part of him felt betrayed and hurt while the other was slightly angry for her to move on so quickly, even though he knew that he had been gone for five years and that it was a long time.

Maria was startled about the statement, having not expected that question and clearly not from him. And strangly it was so very hard to be honest with him about a subject that was far more complicated than it appeared on the first glance. There was too much history to explain and too much in between that it would take a lot of time to tell everything. " It´s... yeah, I love him. But not like you think and you had to be there to understand what it´s going on between us".

Michael was slightly devastated to hear that, having expected it but it had been more painful than he had thought it would be the listen to her say that. Seeing the shadows passing over her usual sparkling emeralds, he decided to drop the subject until she would start talking about the topic willingly. " So, what does Billy the bard doing here? Didn´t seem like he has a lot of friends at this place".

" You´re telling me. If he´s not butting his head with Rath, he´s annyong Sean, Kyle and occassionally Brody. But mostly he drives me crazy with trying to prevent him from getting killed every few seconds", Maria started their trek to the guest rooms they always held free in case they would find some surivors they had to take in. Now they finally would put the chambers to good use.

Michael immediately followed her, having so much questions that he didn´t know where he should start. He wondered how she had managed to be still alive, how it came that human and aliens were fighting side by side, where the granilith was, who the choosen one was to handle it and why she was so distant towards him. " Can I ask you something and you promise to not get mad?".

Maria was amused about choice of words, remembering that he had never cared if she got mad at him or not. He usually blurted his question out and it always ended with her being angry at him and he getting defensive because he didn´t know why she was so furious at him in the first place. This version of him was different and she liked it. " I´ll try".

" Okay I can deal with that", for a moment he seemed to think hard about the words, making their walk a little quiet. Then he shook his head like he had lost his inner battle with himself and it made him look more beautiful, even though he was dirty, hurt and appeared a little unkept. " Why does it seem like you´re in command here?".

Maria faced him, trying to find out if he was curious about her role in all this or if he was questioning her ability to give orders out. Of course he wasn´t giving anything away on his face, which was set in stone like she was used from him. Prying in his mind she noticed that he was blocking her somehow. " Why are you asking me that? You don´t think I´m capable to do the job or what?".

Michael instantly picked up her anger and he felt his thoughts drifting back to the days when they were younger, unexperienced and naive. He knew the signs of a fight with her and he was relieved to know that some things would never change with them. " I´m just curious that´s all. I had been away for five years and the last time we saw each other you were adamant to go back to New York to try the music deal again".

" Yeah, that had been the plan", Maria´s gaze darkened at the memories assaulting her, making her remember things that she wanted to forget. Things like the first attack on Roswell, hitting the crashdown with the force of a meteorite the size of texas. All those blood, the screams and the dead bodies laying around. The pain, the panic and the sorrow was hitting her again and she had to do everything to keep her tears in. " Can we stop talking about that. I can´t...It´s still too painful for me".

Michael detected the deep sadness in her eyes and he felt it so intensly like it was his own. Giving into his urge he took her hand, making her startle in surprise at the contact and stopping her in her tracks. Slowly she turned fully to him and he finally saw the tiny scar peeking out from the collar of her white t-shirt and he wondered since when she had it, having it never noticed it before and he was damn familiar with her body. " We don´t have to talk at all if you want".

Maria was grateful that he didn´t push her in that matter, which she showed with a tiny smile. Glancing at their interlaced fingers she saw for the first time the open wounds on his knuckles and blood mixed with dirt. Caressing the skin there she felt him stiffen when the injuries disappeared and left an unscathed hand back. Looking at him she noticed the shock and the surprise. Letting go of him she backed away, knowing that she had to be as far from him as she could before he started to ask her more questions. " I.. have to go..uh..we´ll see each other later".

" Wait", but it was already too late and she was almost out of his sight by now. Silently cursing his frozen brain and the daze he had been in, he stared after her now more than curious to find out what happened to her. Unfortunately he had to wait until dinner to corner her, hopefully without anyone trying to interfere.

**Two hours later**

Michael felt refreshed and a little calmer after the nice hot shower and a change of clothes. He was happy to have something on that was covering more than just his torso and that wasn´t full of blood or smelling like he had crawled out of the sewer. Looking at the small mirror in his room he was relieved to see that there had been a face under all that hair and dirt. Touching his shaved skin he was glad not to be afraid to hurt someone with his stubbles anymore. Smiling at his reflection and the more than comfortable clothes, which was in reality just army clothes, he made his way out. He wanted to try to catch Maria before they would meet the others in the dining hall. Thankfully he still had this radar making him aware where she was at the moment, so he had no problems finding her room. Nearing the door, he realized it was partly open and she was not alone. Sneaking closer he pressed himself at the wall to listen to the more than heated conversation, making him notice that the other person in the room was Kyle.

" _I don´t want them here?"._

" _They´re our friends and I want them to stay"._

" _Why? So you can start this strange thing with Guerin again? What about Rath? Do you even think about him?"._

" _Don´t you dare judge me! I´m not putting my personal grudge on someone because I´m hurt"._

" _Aren´t you angry at them? Because of them we lost Alex, my father, YOUR mother and not to mention your ability to get pregnant"._

" _Don´t start with that again. Of course I´m not happy about the death of those people, but I can´t blame them for it. They were as much victims as we are in this sick game. Of course I´m angry, even so furious I can´t control myself sometimes, but I´m angry at the right person and that would be Khviar"._

" _I can´t believe that you have forgiven them so quickly, especially after what happened to Liz"._

" _I don´t want to talk about that. What happened to Liz wasn´t anybody´s fault but her own. She had been weak and took the easiest way out"._

" _Great, you´re angry at your best friend but you can´t bring yourself to be angry at them for just leaving us with their mess behind?"._

" _They didn´t leave us behind and you know it. What happened after they had been gone wasn´t their fault"._

" _But they started the whole thing, if Max wouldn´t have saved Liz we would be still with our parents, complaining about their overprotectiveness and wondering what the future would still hold for us"._

" _Yeah, but if he wouldn´t have interfered she would have lost her earlier"._

" _True, but it would be better than knowing that she´s working for the other side now"._

At that Michael heard a sharp intake of breath near him, making him realize that he hadn´t been alone. Turning his head he saw the wide eyes of Max, the shock apparent on his face.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Maria and Kyle had been so into their verbal fight that they hadn´t realized that they hadn´t been alone anymore. Just as they heard the shocked sucking in of breath outside the room they noticed that the door wasn´t closed and that they had been having listener. Exchanging a worried glance with each other they hoped that it wasn´t the person they feared it would be. Seconds later their worry was confirmed when Max stormed towards them, having clearly overcome his shock and was now glaring furiously at them. Michael stumbled after his friend, scared that he could do something stupid and trying to protect Maria.

" What did you say about Liz? Why have you told me she´s dead?".

Kyle immediately stepped in front of his sister, more than pleased to have an outlet for his anger and Evans was the perfect victim for him. There was so much anger that he was sure they were on the same level in their power. " Because you have no right to know anything about us or what happened. You choose to be cowards and getting the hell out of dodge before the shit hit the fan".

Max´ eyes changed suddenly their color, something that nobody had ever seen before. The guy was usually more in control and the only one getting visibly furious was Michael, who was as stunned about the change of his friend as anyone else in the room. " That doesn´t give you the right to lie to me about Liz, the mother of my son! And by the way we didn´t choose to leave, we were tricked into it!".

" Oh yeah, like I will believe you that bullshit!", Kyle was in a full flow and he wouldn´t let anything stop him from getting his frustration out. Frustration about the way his life had taken a spiral down since the aliens had invaded his normal life, even though it hadn´t been perfect it had liked it. He had been having friends, a lot of girls hanging on his every word and a future career at some basketball team. But that all changed the day Max " motherf***ing pansy ass " Evans had saved his life. " All you ever brought into our lifes had been destruction, pain and tears. Liz choose this other side because she hadn´t been having another choice. You left her and she was devastated and pregnant with your child. How do you think that made her feel! And why do you think Roswell is just a battlefield? Because Khivar is after you and the strange thing you have brought with you! We would be living a nice life if you wouldn´t have come into our lifes to ruin everything for us".

Maria felt the impact of the words more than she had expected, because part of her had felt like that, too at first. But then she had found the evidence that they hadn´t left willingly in Michael´s apartment and she knew that she couldn´t hold a grudge against something that had been out of their hands. Now she was just glad that they were alive and at the place they belonged to. " That´s enough now! I´m so sick to hear everyone complaining and being angry at each other. We can´t change what happened and we can´t take anything back, so we have to deal with the hands we have given".

Kyle turned his heating gaze on his sister, hating her for the first time and feeling a lot of his anger directed at her, something that had never happened. One thing he was still able blame on the aliens and their intrusion in their midst again. " I can´t believe you´re on their side after all we have been through! They hadn´t been there when Liz killed you, hadn´t been holding your dying body in their arms, witnessing the light dimming in your eyes and praying that god wouldn´t you take away from me, too"

" Please Kyle, I can understand your feelings and if they would have done all that you accused them I would be backing you up without thinking. But they´re not the enemy here and you´re letting your dark emotions cloud your senses", Maria heard too many noise in her head and it was making her slightly dizzy, one of the few downsides from her powers. Sometimes when they were too many people with too much thoughts around her, she couldn´t block everything and it was making her uncomfortable. Rubbing her forehead she tried to get the pounding behind her eyes under control. " In case you forgot aliens have saved my live. If not for them I wouldn´t be standing here, able to fight with you".

Like he had sensed her discomfort, Rath stepped into the room, immediately going to her side to make sure that nothing was wrong. Seeing the strain on her face, he knew that it was taking a lot out of her to stand there with all the tension thickly in the air. Even he was getting a headache from all the noise. " What is going on here?".

Max finally found the perfect opportunity to speak his mind now, after all the hard words he had to listen from Kyle. He couldn´t be quiet when he was blamed for things he hadn´t done and he would be damned if he let anyone not knowing what he had been through to get on earth again put him down. " We just had been getting told how much we aliens had destroyed lifes without getting the chance to defend ourselves. It is easier to point a finger at someone else if the life didn´t turn out like it was expected. I didn´t ask your father to help us, I didn´t ask to include you in our small group and I sure as hell didn´t ask to get stranded on a strange planet where I would be different than anyone else. Nobody had asked my if I wanted to be here or if I wanted to be a freak, I was born that way. You are human and you had the ability to be anything you wanted without having to be afraid to be detected or branded as unnatural, but you choose to stick with us, although nobody had forced you".

" I had to stick to you. My friends were into deep with you to notice the danger, someone had to keep them out of trouble", Kyle was two seconds away from strangling King Dick with his bare hands. Unfortunately his weird alien powers were faster and the light above them flickered a few times before the bulbs exploded in a rain of glass splinters.

Rath immediately turned Maria away, protecting her with his body and making sure that not one small would come near her. A beat followed where nobody dared to move until the spell was broken. Rath whirled angrily around, shooting daggers at Kyle with his eyes and growled low in his throat. " Are you mental? If you can´t control yourself then go and look for some other place".

Maria was finally in a standing position again and she patted his stomach with ease. She was still amazed how frightened he could be with such trivial like lightbulbs. Like they would attack her. He was too overprotective, but after she saw the accident with his eyes she cut him some slack and let his behaviour slide. " Kyle, why don´t you look how Ava is. You know how much the pregnancy is making her cranky".

" Yeah, I will do that", shamefully he hung his head, remembering that he promised to not lose his temper near his sister. It wasn´t like she was scared of him or about the fact that he would hurt her, but it was Rath that had threatened to kick his ass if he should get her in any danger. " I´m sorry", he mumbled before disappearing.

Maria felt bad for him and she thought she would visit him after dinner to talk quietly with him, to make her understand her point. She hated when there was tension between them, because as much as it pained to admit he was the closest she had to a brother and she didn´t want to lose that, especially over something so stupid. Facing Max she pointed her finger at him. " You should get off your high horse, you´re not on Antar here. This is our territorium and we are King and Queen here. If you got a problem with that, I can give you the direction to the exit. But remember you will go alone, because Xander stays with me".

Max was stunned into silence, his mouth closing and opening like a fish. He couldn´t believe her. She was threatening to take away his son away from him? Who did she think she was, that was still his child and if he would go he would take his boy with him. " You can´t do that! That is my flesh and blood", chuckling unamused he glanced at her icily. " And let´s face it, you wouldn´t be able to stop me from taking him with me".

" Try me and we will see what happens then", Maria pushed past Rath, ignoring his surprised look and the grin forming on his face. He knew what she was capable of, even without the added bonus of her mind reading. She had maybe no active power, but she was able to tap into his powers, which were a little more dangerously than those of the former king.

Max faced her dead on, not giving her the satisfaction of backing down from her glare. She was no match for him and he was aware of the fact that she couldn´t hold her threat. He wondered who would be the first to step away, hoping that it would be her. " You think. You couldn´t stop Liz from killing you, what makes you sure that you could stop me?".

Quicker than anyone could react Rath had him pinned against the wall behind them with his ellbow at the other man´s throat, making it obvious that he wouldn´t hesistate to choke him to death. The fire and the furious glint in his eyes was making him appear like the soldier he had been in his past life. " You just do as much as a wrong twitching and I will crush your windpipe faster than you can react. I will squish you like a fly if you come near her or even look at her funny. You can´t deal with your bitch having changed sides, fine. But don´t you dare hit her like that again or you will be sorry to have come back".

" Easy love, we maybe need him as trade at one point and we don´t want Khivar to complain to us that we didn´t take good care of his prisoner", Maria´s voice sounded colder than anyone had ever heard. It sounded so unlike her that it was like she was a different person, one that had no mercy or conscious at all.

Michael was still frozen at his spot, not quite having swallowed the knowledge that Liz had killed her and that she had been lost for him forever if the other batch wouldn´t have been there to save her. And it was strange to see Rath protecting her with such a passion that it was making him sad. He felt so out of place and unwelcomed, the same feeling he had been having when he had lived with Hank. " We can go if you want. We don´t want to make too much trouble".

Maria turned to him and her whole demenour softened instantly. She saw the pained gaze and she knew what he was thinking, pictures of Hank circling around her head. For a moment she was so happy that he was letting her in his mind, but the joy didn´t last long when she noticed that she had given him the impression that they shouldn´t be here. " Don´t be silly. You are more than welcome here, but we´re a tight group now and you have to earn your way back in it. You all will hear a lot more screaming towards you and believe me, it will be worse. But that doesn´t mean we´re not happy to have you back with us".

" Yeah as long as you undestand that the rules are different down here, we´ll get along fine", Rath released his bruising hold on Max, even though he couldn´t refrain from pushing him a little rough at the wall behind him, much to the displeasure of Maria who threw him a stern look to which he just shrugged.

Michael saw the silent communication between the two of them and he wasn´t sure if he could stand to be around to witness both acting like a married couple, seemingly knowing each other forever. But what other option had they at the moment? Roswell was gone, Khivar on the rampage and they pretty much defenseless against a whole army. " Seems like we don´t have another choice".

Maria smiled at him to take the bad mood a little out of the situation. She didn´t want to hurt anyone, but they had to be prepared for the same reaction from a few other people. Unfortunately she couldn´t prevent that from happening and thankfully most of the anger was directed at Max, so she could deal with it, especially after the way he had behaved minutes ago. " You make it sound like this choice is a bad thing. Dude you´ve gotta get the stick outta your ass".

" One more of that sentence and I forbid you to watch Supernatural. They just put this crap into your head", Rath grumbled, not understanding what she found so attractive at the one guy playing the older brother, Dean or something. Even if he had to admit he liked the show himself, but mostly because of the story and the drool worthy car. But he didn´t want to have her attention focused on another man, although that seemed to be a moot point now.

Maria stuck her tongue out at him, knowing he was as much addicted to the show than she was. He was just jealous that she was always making dirty comments about Jensen the one playing Dean Winchester. But she was a woman and that guy was a fine package and with the same charastically flaws than two people she knew. " Yeah right. Do that and I throw your nasty magazines away, I know where you hide them".

Rath chuckled, being sure she was bluffing and not feeling threatened from her. But the longer she glanced at him with the amusement apparent, he wondered if he should take her serious. Trying to stand her knowing gaze, he had to cave in after a while. " I have to go, gotta take care of something. See you at dinner".

" Don´t forget to mention your new hideaway to Sean and Kyle, they´re reading this shit as well", Maria called after his retreating back, barely holding her smile in. The guy was sometimes just too funny for words. Who would have thought that someone with his reputation could be so predictable and amusing. Turning to her company she saw their confused looks. " Let´s go people. I´m starving".

Michael and Max exchanged worried glances with each other before they followed her. She was a little strange and they were slightly scared of her. Minutes ago she was ready to rip someone apart and now she was acting like she was a cheerleader on dope. Cautionously they walked behind her, watching as many people around them greeted her with a smile, a wave of their hand or just said hello. It was a little weird to see her so confident marching through this dark hallway without seemingly a care in the world while the outside world was in mayhem. But maybe it was her way of dealing with all this and as long as it made her happy, they wouldn´t object. Hearing her sum a catchy little tune, they thought it was time to observe their surroundings. While Michael was checking the right side, Max did the same with the left. Unfortunately the only thing they could see was the walls around them with lamps illuminating the path. It was like they were walking through a tunnel, which wasn´t so far from the truth. Just here and there a door was indicating that it was a compound. Sometimes they could look inside a room and it was strange to see some sort of normal living arrangements there with normal people in it. Just as Max wanted to ask Maria how much people were living here when a lot of noise and the smell of food was hitting them. Glancing forward they almost forgot to breath at seeing the huge dining hall filled with so many people that it appeared like there were at a booked up pop concert. Men and women were walking around with trays or sat at one of the many tables eating or stood in line at the what looked like a buffet with many dishes. It was an unbelievable sight and slightly overwhelming.

" Don´t worry, you will get used to it", Maria had noticed immediately that her company was a little bit intimidating from all those people. She had been like that, too at first, but now she thought it was the most natural in the world to see the hall so full.

Michael had never been comfortable with so many people around and he was sure that he would have problems to adjust. Letting his eyes wander, he finally noticed Isabel. She was sitting side by side with Jesse, both smiling at each other and touching instead of eating. Near them was Brody, suspiciously glaring at Larek, who seemed to be really amused about the open dislike from his host and grinned at the human with delight. A little further down Sean was digging into his food like a starving man while Laurie rolled her eyes at his manner, complaining loudly about it to Ava sitting across from her. The alien girl was wrinkling her nose, but it was obvious that it was about the food and not the topic of conversation from the human girl. By closer looking it was apparent that she was with child and nobody could mistaken the overprotectiveness from Kyle as soon as he started rubbing her large belly. Everybody seemed to have found his place. Everybody except him.

Max let his starving stomach guide him to the table where the many food was, trying not to notice the strange glances thrown his way. Putting everything edible he could find on a plate he made his way towards his sister and her husband. Halfway there his son was making himself noticable loudly, waving his father in his direction, which Max instantly followed.

" Are you planning on moving anytime soon?", Maria realized that they were still standing at the entrance of the hall, even though she didn´t know the reason why she hadn´t walked inside already. Turning her full attention on Michael she detected the uncertainty in his eyes, the sadness that had always lingered on the surface and she immediately grasped his hand. " Let´s go inside. And don´t be scared they don´t bite as long as I´m at your side".

Michael faced her as soon as he heard her sentence, then his gaze fell on their interwined hands and the sparks of recognation flaming up again. He was relieved to know that it was still there, that some small part of what they had made them out had survived the distance and the long time. Repressing his urge to kiss her he smiled at her instead and let himself get dragged inside.

Rath came out of his hiding place, having just arrived from his trip to his small chamber where he was keeping all of his things that he didn´t want Maria to see. Even from the distance he had noticed the familiarity between her and her former lover, which he didn´t like. But he had known from the start that he would never have something like the both had been having, knowing that he just had been a substitute for the real thing. And until now he had been able to live with that knowledge. Turning around he walked away from the dining hall, having lost his appetite.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Maria was sitting at the back exit of their compound, keeping her surroundings in sight and listening for any indication that she wasn´t alone. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, because the wind had picked up speed and the air was colder in the night, she wondered why she had volunteered to have night watch duty tonight. Glancing at the wide expanse of trees bending to the breeze, she was thinking about her current dilemma, namely the return of Michael, Max and Isabel. Even if the Evan´s siblings weren´t exactly a problem for her, her mind always drifted to her former boyfriend more often than she wanted to admit. Since he was there she felt younger, carefree and able to do anything. It was weird to think that one person could change her mood so drastically and especially one like Michael Guerin. He usually had brought her on the brink to either slug him or bang her head on a hard surface until she could ban her love for him completely and make her life a little less complicated. Unfortunately he wasn´t the main reason for her troubled emotions, there was still Rath to consider. Kyle had been right about one thing, she had to think about him, too. And everything wouldn´t be so complicated if she wouldn´t love him the way she did now. Thinking about all the times he had been there to comfort her or listened to her complains or just was there to hold her, she knew that she wouldn´t have managed everything without him. He had been her rock throughout the bad times, her best friend throughout the good times and her lover inbetween. She didn´t want to imagine a life without him in it and she couldn´t stand the thought to lose him. But that was where her problems began, because she loved both men. Shaking her head she tried to concentrate on her task and not on her emotional well being. Smelling smoke she turned her head around and was stunned to see Rath leaning at the wall behind her, a cigarette in his right hand and taking deep breathes here and there.

" I thought you quit".

Rath gazed at her through the smoke, hating her for making him break his promise he had given to her a long time ago. But he needed to feel the heavy tar staining his lungs and giving him the satisfaction of knowing that every drag was bringing him closer to his death. " Yeah, but I couldn´t resist".

Maria noticed that something had changed between them and she knew why that was. She had never felt this strange in his presence, not even when they had barely knew each other. They were slowly drifting apart, she could feel it in her guts and she had absolutely no clue how she could stop it. " Where have you been at dinner? I´ve missed you".

" Like you noticed my absence", Rath didn´t mean it so harsh like it had sounded and he regretted it the moment he saw her sad eyes staring back at him. He felt like the biggest jerk on this planet and probably on any other planet, too. He couldn´t just let his bad mood out on her, she didn´t deserve his treatment. " I´m sorry I didn´t mean it like that".

Maria was afraid if she didn´t fix this tension between them, she would lose him forever and she wasn´t able to live with the knowledge to have hurt one of the most important person in her life. " Sit down and talk to me. I can´t stand to have you mad at him".

Rath flicked the rest of his cigarette away in the dark night and placed his nice butt besides her, still keeping a little distance from her. He sensed that this conversation would be either breaking his heart or bring them closer together, which the latter was the least possible in his opinion. " I´m not mad at you. I can´t be mad at you, you know that".

" But I feel that something is changing. You´re avoiding me and I don´t like it", Maria brushed her hand through her slightly longer hair, making a few strands falling back in her face and she thought automatically at the long evenings when Rath was playing with her hair while she read a book to him. It was sort of a habit from them, one she didn´t want to stop.

Rath sighed audible and it was even louder in the silence engulfing them. Staring at the darkness, he tried to find the right words to describe what was going on inside him. Even after all this time it was hard for him to open up to her, at least with his feelings. He was afraid she would think he was a wussy or worse that she would laugh at him. But he was making an afford and that was more than anyone could expect from him. " Yeah, it´s just so hard to see you so familiar with HIM".

Maria had suspected that much already, immediately knowing who HIM was. The arrival of Michael had brought too much on the surface they had wanted to forget or had buried so deep that they thought it would never come up again. Sadly they were mistaken and now everything was there, right under their nose. " So, are you intending to avoid me as long as he´s here or what is your solution?".

" I´m giving you up so that you can be with him again", Rath felt his black heart crumbling inside his chest, raging against his decision and making him fight to hold his tears back. He had never thought he would see the day when he would cry because of a woman and yet here he was trying to blink tears away.

Maria noticed her eyes filling with tears at his words, but more out of anger than sadness. She couldn´t believe him that he just made this decision without her, without giving her a chance to defend herself or say something. It wasn´t just him in this relationship, she was part of this, too. Every decision had to be made from both sides. " So that´s it? I don´t have a say in the matter? You´re just giving up on us without hearing my side?".

Rath was stunned about her outburst, having counted on her to be content with his decision. Turning to her confused he tried to read her expression, making sure that he just heard her right. Seeing the tears glistening in the moon light, he wondered if she just had said that because she didn´t want to lose his friendship or him in general. " It´s better. We both know that I just had been the replacement, the rebound, the substitute".

" How dare you say that to me", Maria slapped him so quick that she didn´t even realize what she had done until she saw his cheek with an angry red handprint. Jumping to her feet she didn´t even feel sorry for her violent reaction. Pacing in front of him she tried to cool down before she killed him. " I can´t believe you just said that. Have I ever given you the impression that I wasn´t honest to you? Or that I thought what we had was nothing? Then I´m sorry for making you feel that way".

Rath put his hand on the spot where her open palm had connected with his skin and he was thankful that it just had been her hand and not the weapon she was carrying around in the belt she had around her waist. Standing up he stopped her from making a whole in the ground under them. " I´m sorry for hurting you. Of course you never made me feel like I was feeling more towards you than you´re feeling towards me. But I watched you and Michael, your eyes started to sparkle happily when you saw him, the last time I saw that expression on you had been when Xander started to call you mommy".

Maria rubbed her face, feeling the strain of the last years more than she had ever felt it before. She had enough to worry about, she didn´t need the extra weight of this problem on her shoulders. But she was sure that if she didn´t do anything she would probably hurt someone in the process and she was afraid it would be her. " I´m not denying the fact that I felt happy when I saw him or that I still feel a lot towards him. But that doesn´t necessarily mean what you and I have means nothing to me. I love you just I has loved him".

" And what does that mean exactly now?", he wasn´t about to share her with someone else, even if the guy was like him. But he was a creedy bastard and he would never allow any other male to be so close to her, no matter what she would think about him if she could hear what he was thinking.

Maria shrugged very much clueless than he was. She wished sometimes she would have all the answers to every question in the world. But truthfully she was just a smalltown girl stuck in a war that was so out of her league that she still was in awe how long she had managed to survive. " I don´t know. Maybe we don´t have to worry at all, I mean five years is a long time and we´re not the same people we had been. Maybe Michael doesn´t feel the same for me like he had then".

Rath raised his eyebrow disagreeingly at her, knowing enough about the body language to understand that he wasn´t the only one drawn to her. His dupe may have been gone for a long time but his feelings for her were pretty much the same, maybe even more so. It looked like he had to work hard to keep her at his side from now on. " I wouldn´t count on it".

" You worry too much", Maria stepped closer to him, smelling the familiar scent of sweet mixed with spicy clinging to him with a small touch of smoke. She would never get tired of sniffing his scent and feeling safe and protected. Pulling him down to her level she kissed him, smiling at his eagerness and the way his hands started to wander. Pushing him softly away from her, she remembered that they were in the open and everyone could see them. " I hate you, you´re distracting me from my duty. And now I have to sit out there alone when my body is throbbing painfully".

Rath chuckled satisfied, even though he didn´t feel any different. His pants had shrunk and some body part was squished so bad that he was sure that he would be walking funny. She always made him lose control as soon as she was so close with her clean scent, her beautiful green emeralds glistening mischief in the dark and the tender way she was touching him. " I could help you with the throbbing and with that you take care of my throbbing".

Maria put her forehead on his chest, feeling a flush covering her face. Even after all this time they had been intimate with each other, he made her feel embarrassed about his casualness to talk about sex like that. Sometimes it happened that she blushed in the middle of a meeting when she took a peek in his mind and he was doing naughty things with her, things she wouldn´t have been brave enough to admit openly. " I have to make sure that no one is going to attack tonight"

" I could probably find someone else to do the job if you wanted", Rath brushed her hair away from her neck and started to suck at her pulse point, making sure to apply extra attention on the spot behind her ear that was driving her crazy. Hearing the quiet purring coming from her he was sure that he could get her to agree with him.

Maria had to bite back the moan threaten to escape her at his ministration, cursing him for knowing all her sensitive spots. She was on the brink to forget all of her good intentions and skip this night watch when she sensed another presence near them. Stiffening she stopped Rath in the middle of his seduction. " We´re not alone anymore".

Rath immediately went on alert, stunned that he hadn´t picked that up already. Glancing at her he saw that she wasn´t scared, which meant that whoever it was, wasn´t from Khivar´s men. Turning around he tried to find the intruder, who in return noticed that he had been detected and came out of the dark corner he had been hiding. Rath was more than just pissed about the person interrupting him. " I should have known that you couldn´t keep away from her".

" I´m sorry, I got lost somewhere", Michael knew that his excuse sounded even lame in his ears and he was angry at himself for not coming up with something better. But his blood wasn´t exactly at the place it was supposed to be and it was hard enough to formulate a straight sentence without sounding like a retard.

Rath smiled scornfully at the obvious lie, already pondering if he should let it slide or if he should telling him straight on that he was a liar. Enjoying the discomfort of the other man he decided to let his dupe sweat it out. " Then I have to help you find the way again. Just good that I was on my way back anyway".

Michael scratched his eyebrow, making a nervous impression and appearing like he was trying to find the right words. Letting his eyes wander from Maria to his dupe, he was afraid to provoke more trouble between them. " Well, I wanted to talk to her. Alone".

" That´s fine, Rath was just on the way to check on Xander and Cordelia", Maria knew that this conversation was unavoidable and she would be rather get it out of the way as soon as possible. Throwing her lover a stern glance when she noticed his startled expression, she was two seconds away from stomping her foot. Relieved she noted that he wasn´t fighting her on that and with an angry growl at his dupe he left.

Michael recognized the possessive look in the other man´s eyes and he knew that he should better sleep with one eye open this night if he wanted to wake up at all tomorrow. Waiting until he was sure that he and Maria were the only people present he lent against the wall his dupe had been earlier and glanced at her. " So".

Maria tried to hide her amusement about his attempt to look casual, struggling to find the beginning for the conversation. Sitting down again she motion for him to take the spot besides her. She knew he wasn´t good at small talk and he had never been someone that wanted to talk much aside from things considering their alien heritage or sport, well and maybe to argue with her. " So, do you have slowly acclimated to the different atmosphere?".

" Yeah mostly. But some things I still have to get used to", Michael let his eyes roam over the nature so different and yet so alike like the one he had seen on Antar, well the few things he had been able to see from his prison cell. The only thing he had been allowed to do in the small space.

Maria knew instantly that he wasn´t talking about the change in planets and she felt sorry for him. He had thought he would be coming home to the people he loved and to the town that had been giving him shelter. But now everything was in shambles and the world as he knew it was gone. " You will get used to it. You will see you have intigrated into our family in no time".

Michael wasn´t so sure about that, knowing that he wasn´t someone that fitted everywhere. He out of the three aliens had a hard time to built trust towards people outside their group. And seeing that Isabel had immediately looked like she was belonging to this people for a long time, spending most of her time exchanging sweet glances with her husband while Max was really busy with listening to his son talking about all the things he had missed during the time he had been away hadn´t been helping Michael in any way. " I doubt that. Everyone has its place and I´m the only one feeling left out. But that´s okay, I´m used to that".

" That feels like that now, but believe me it will pass. I´m speaking from experience", Maria had needed a long time to get to the position she held now. The first time she had come here everyone had intimidated her with their ability to defend themself while she was just a scared human girl having barely escaped death. Liz and Kyle at least had been having the advantage of alien powers, Brody and Sean had been men while she was the damsel in mistress.

Michael heard the sad note in her voice and he wondered how much hits she had been receiving to make her so guarded and so unlike the girl he had left all those years. " What happened when were gone?".

Maria shook her head, trying to banish the picture of the many dead bodies lining the streets, the buildings crumbled to a heap on the ground, people screaming after help others crying over dead family members, friends or even lovers. It was still something that haunted her at night and made her afraid to go to sleep sometimes. Usually the only thing helping her sleep was the use of pills Brody gave her.

" I think it was a day after you were all gone. I waited for you at the front porch, excited that we had finally time again to do something together without being too busy with work or your new friends. I stood there like an idiot for a few hours until I stormed angrily in the house again, trying to call you. When I couldn´t reach you I was cursing like a sailor, phoning Liz to complain to her. She tried to calm me down, saying that it wasn´t so unusual for you to forget dates with me. Believe me I had hoped you had been in an accident, because I wouldn´t allow any other excuse. The next day we noticed that neither you or Izzy or Max had been in school and we thought it was probably something alien. But as soon as the sun was getting down I knew that something was wrong. So I went to your aparment to look for some clue and I found the slip of paper on the coffee table, telling that if you wanted to protect your beloved ones you should come to the pod chamber. Naturally I drove there and found the chevelle standing there alone, the key in the ignition. I called Liz, explaining the situation to her and she told me to come to her, because she had news. I knew as soon as I stepped in her room that something had been going down and it got confirmed when she told me that she was pregnant from Max. We talked through the whole night, comforting each other and making plans for her, telling Jim and Kyle about the situation. Jim immediately offered to take her in if her parents should make trouble and that we both could always come to him", she stopped, swallowing to get her throat working. If she would have known how long her speech would be getting she would have taken a glass of water with her.

" The next day we both talked to Mr. Parker about the pregnancy and as soon as the screaming began I walked away, after all I had to work. At some point Liz stormed past me out of the crashdown, her father hot on her trail while I was on my way to get the garbage in the dumpster at the back. I was so worried about my best friend that I threw the bag with too much force and I ended up landing inside the dumpster myself. I tried to climb out of it, the smell making me sick when some explosion hit the dumpster with so much power that it got knocked over and landed on my right leg. I don´t know how long I was trapped under the heavy thing, but in my panic I lifted the thing with no problems and pushed it away from me. Scared I glanced up and saw that the crashdown wasn´t there anymore, just a pile of stones was there. I think I was in shock because I stood up and walked over the mess, trying not to step over someone. Here and there I saw body parts lying around, blood everywhere. But I quickly realized that nobody had survived, aside from me. When I stumbled on the street, Jim stopped with squeaking tires in front of me, immediately coming at my side to support me. He was talking to me, but I didn´t understand a word he said. So he put me in his jeep and searched in the mess that had been the Crash down for any survivors, which he of course didn´t find. Then he drove me to the hospital where a few people already got treated for small injuries from the explosion. But as soon one of the doctors saw me he immediately put me into the next examination room, Jim never leaving my side. Everything was a blur for me, I heard a few bits of the conversation around me, a slight concussion, an outright breach on my right leg, scatches and bruises, but nothing dangerous. I just came out of it when one of the nurses cleaned the wound on my leg and I felt the first stinging of the anticept. Instantly I asked after Liz and her father, Jim told me that he didn´t have the chance to look properly at the crime scene and he already put his deputies to work and as soon as he knew something he would tell me what happened to them. Then I heard Mr. P´s voice outside, screaming for help for his pregnant daughter. Liz just suffered a broken wrist, but her father had been making a ruckus like she was on the brink to die. Then I thought about my mother and that she was probably worried where I was and what happened to me, so I told Jim about it. He said that he already taken care of that and Amy was on her way to the hospital, which we immediately noticed when she went on a rampage outside, demanding to see her daughter instantly or there was hell to pay", quietly chuckling she thought about the fact that her mother had been already pregnant at that point. Nobody had realized that she and the Sheriff had maybe stopped being a couple but sometimes met to have sex. It had been strange to her and Kyle to find that out.

" Are you sure you want to know everything? You´re probably tired and have better things to do".

Michael had been so encrossed in hearing her voice again that he was thrown for a moment when he realized that she was talking to him. Shaking his head he flushed slightly when he noticed that he probably could sit here with her forever just to listen to her. " No no. I want to know all of it. So what happened after that?".

" Well, after I was done recovering and able to use my leg again, Kyle, Liz and Jim told me about their investigations about the attack. They had found out that everyone in the Crashdown had died and that it had been the only place getting destroyed, which meant someone was either after me or Liz. My suspicion was immediately on Liz, seeing as she was the one carrying the next generation of the King. Days later I was on my way to Brody, trying to find out if he could help me with some investigation on my own when some guy grasped my shoulders and told me that we should give the granilith to its rightful owner if we wanted to save our lifes. I told him straight on that I had no clue what he was talking about and that if he wanted to keep his arm he should pull it back. But he warned me that I just made the biggest mistake of my life. A week later Roswell was gone and with that most of the people. It was a miracle that we survived at all, even if we lost Nancy Parker, Charles and Rachel Whitman, Philip Evans and Sydney Davis in the process", Maria had to bite back her tears when she thought about Brody´s reaction to the death of his daughter, the anguish and pain in his voice when he held the small body in his arms crying to violently that everyone around him had been in tears as well. At that point everyone had been willing to fight back, knowing that their chances to survive had been more than impossible. But nobody had wanted to go down without a fight and so a few people had gathered together to kick alien ass.

" We fought back as good as we could, hiding in the basement of UFO-Center by night, which had been relative unharmed. We took everything we could and were building weapons out of it. For weeks we defended our small hideaway from aliens trying to get inside, making my suspicious about them after Liz true, because she and my mother were the only ones staying indoors, seeing as they had been pretty much pregnant. Then one day I got distracted from a presence I thought I would feel nearby. It took me five seconds to realize that it wasn´t you but your dupe. Unfortunately it took the skin three seconds to use my distracted state to strike. Before I knew what was happening I was being flung at the ground, but not from a blast. Instead Rath was lying on me, smiling brightly and telling me that I should be careful. He had been looking so unlike and yet so like you that I was thrown for a moment until my mind finally caught on with my body. Immediately I pushed him away from me, saying that he either should be helpful or piss off, which he found amusing. He kept at my side throughout the battle and we seemed to be really hitting it off together", chuckling she remembered the easy way he had appeared to be using his powers, trying to impress her with his stamina as he had told her. Sadly that had almost cost him his life. Turning her eyes on the dark sky above them she still felt the sticky blood flowing through her fingers which she had pressed on his aorta fighting to keep him from bleeding out. She hadn´t cared about the battle around her, she just had the thought to keep him alive. It was silly but she hadn´t been able to lose someone that had been looking like Michael, not as long as she was breathing.

" Rath got hurt pretty bad and I sat with him for hours, trying to distract him from the blood flowing out of his throat. At some point the army came, taking us with them and giving us a place to stay. Obviously Rath got better and I was almost everyday with him, talking to him or just made sure that he was eating. He wasn´t exactly happy to be pampered and he was sometimes more than rude, but I got used to his nature and treated him with the same respect he treated me. Someday he stopped refering to me as Bitch, because he hadn´t liked the way I was calling him Dick and we built some strange friendship. He was teaching me to be tougher and I was teaching him to be more friendly. And let me tell you that hadn´t been a pleasant matter".

Michael could picture that, inwardly smiling at the patience she had to be having. He didn´t know his dupe as well as she did, but he was pretty sure he wasn´t exactly a good student in that area. The only time he had been having contact was in the UFO-Center and he had been irritated with his twin. " I can see that. But it had worked".

" Yeah now, but it had been a long way to that", shaking her head she was still in awe how long it had been that Rath and her were knowing each other. Despite their first slight dislike towards each other they had found a common ground and that had brought them together in more than one way. He had seen her in her worst days and still was at her side, believing and trusting in her, although there had been times when she wanted to give up.

" But we´re getting off topic here. So Rath and I we were spending a lot of time together, exercising, talking and I felt that something deeper was developing between us and I wasn´t comfortable with that, because I was still hoping that you would be coming back and we would be continue where we left off. Then someone broke into the compound and kidnapped Liz. I had been playing with my one month old sister when I heard that. Immediately I was on my feet and on my way to the armory, arming myself heavily and marching towards the exit to find my best friend, who had been still pregnant at the point. Rath stepped in my way, screaming at me that I couldn´t go out there and without any back up, that I didn´t even know where I had to go. He shook me so hard that I thought he wanted to kill me, I´ve never seen him so angry at me before and it even worked. I calmed down slightly and we instantly planned a rescue mission, which needed more time than we had thought because we found the location where Liz was held a little later. So Rath, me, Sean, Kyle and Ava were on our way there and everything went smoothly. Too smoothly, we found Liz and Xander quickly and took them with us. Rath had held the baby while the other three were making sure that nothing would be in our way. I was holding Liz up and she had been pretty beaten, bruised and scared. We were falling behind the others and I was so busy with concentrating of bringing my best friend to the compound that I realized too late that Liz had snatched my weapon out of my belt and hit the back of my head with it. When I crashed on the ground I saw her smile down at me, her bruisings disappearing and her scared expression changing into a mocking one. She pulled a small dagger out of her clothes, threatening me with it, telling me that I should give up and join Khivar´s side, because we would die either way if we wouldn´t surrender. I told her that this would never happen and we started fighting", breathing evenly she hoped that her anger towards her best friend wasn´t visible on her face. The words Liz had flung at her had been more hurtful than the blows she had dished out. Not even when she felt the dagger going into her flesh had she felt so much pain than the lies she had been forced to listen to.

" I lost the fight against her, but only because she had been having back up in the form of Khivar while I had been alone without weapon or alien powers. Thankfully Rath and the others came back, making Liz and her new friend leave immediately. I vaguely heard Rath when he kneeled at my side, taking my hand and trying to talk to me. The only thing I understood was that he wanted me to look in his eyes and I saw the devastation in his glance, the knowledge that if I should die he would die as well. He built a connection with me to keep me alive until Ava came back with the healing stones. Kyle and Sean were there, too. But I was so focused on Rath that I barely registered their presence. After a while I wasn´t strong enough to battle anymore and I was on the brink to close me eyes. Of course Rath wasn´t having any of that and hissed at me that if I would give up he would follow me to hell and kick my ass. So I held on for a little longer. And Here I am, alive and kicking".

Michael couldn´t believe what she had been through and what his dupe had taken on himself to keep her alive. He promised himself to have a little talk to Rath in the future to thank him for everything he had done. But he would wait until they would like each other more or got to know each other better. " Wow. So how did your Mom and Jim die? You haven´t mention them".

Maria´s face fell at that, making it apparent that it was an off topic and he had crossed a invisible line. Her jaw was moving angrily under her skin and her eyes got glassy all of the sudden. " I can´t talk about that. Not yet".

" Okay, whatever you want. Do you know what happened to make Liz change sides?".

Maria shrugged, having questioned herself that for so long and she wasn´t even close to find the answer to that one. Maybe her friend had been brainwashed, possessed or it had been a shapeshifter and Liz had been already dead. But why did the creature have that much information about things that just both girls knew then? " No, I don´t know", turning her attention back to him she stared at his face. " So what´s your story".

Michael thought about the arrival on their homeplanet, knowing that they didn´t want to be there. Getting treated like a criminal, people looking away, Khivar´s men pushing them into the prison cells. Sitting in the small space, wondering how long they had to live, if their beloved ones would know that they hadn´t been gone willingly from them and if they would ever get the chance to say goodbye forever. The escape, the hiding in the nature from a planet they didn´t know, finding Larek and planning a way to get back to their home. And then the day they managed to find a way to earth, smelling the unique scent from the planet and seeing the familiar places. " Well, we went into the podchamber, got trapped there, sent on Antar, held prisoner for some time. Escaped and hid in the woods or what we called woods, were found from some renegades under the command of Larek, working on a plan to get back and viola, we´re here".

" Great, you´re as tight lipped as I remember you. Care to explain a few things?", Maria tried to make her amusemtent not so apparent, she didn´t want to make him mad. But she told him everything, okay she left a few things out to save time while he told her the outlines. Rolling her eyes she wondered what she had expected, she was after all talking to Michael Guerin.

Michael smiled at her, knowing that she wouldn´t just take his small bits, she wanted to know the full details. But there wasn´t anything interesting to tell, nobody died, nobody had been harmed too bad and nobody was gone from their group. " No, maybe someday when you´re ready to tell me about Jim and Amy".

Maria thought it was a perfect Jack Nicholson Deal, as good as it gets. Nodding at him she was thrown when he took her hand and kissed the back of it softly. Suddenly he was looking up, having heard something in the dark. Seconds later she found the reason for the noise. They weren´t alone any longer.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to all reading this fic and leave all those nice words.**

**Chapter 7**

Maria shook her head when she recognized the two men standing behind them, glancing at her and Michael like they had caught them in a unbelievable moment. Glaring at both she dared them to say something and accept to have her wrath leashed out on them. Thankfully they were smart enough to keep their mouthes closed.

" What are you doing here?".

Kyle smiled sheepishly at his sister, thinking his part about the situation they had witnessed. He was glad that they had come, fearing that something would have happened that Rath wouldn´t find so amusing. It was bad enough to bear the General when he was in a good mood, he didn´t want to cross him when he was in a bad mood. " We got sent up here to take over".

Max shuffled his feet nervously and slightly embarrassed while his hands were interwined behind his back. Now he finally looked like the shy boy he had been before he had saved Liz life. " Order from Rath himself".

" Why?", as soon as the word had left her lips, she noticed the reason for them to be there. Through the small light from the moon she could see that her brother was sporting a nice bruise over his left eye while the other boy had a slightly swollen nose, where still a dabble of blood was sticking to. " Wonderful. What is going on today? Is the testesterone prickling your brains? Or is it something in the air?".

Kyle had expected something in that direction from her. She hadn´t grown up with too much male influence and Alex didn´t count in that department, because the guy had been too girly and in no way the ideal role model when it came to be a man. " Sometimes we men have to let out a little tension".

Maria was sure that no matter how much time she was around a compound full of macho like man, she would never understand them. Why couldn´t they solve a problem like any normal being did it. With talking about the situation, a lot of cursing mixed with hand gestures and maybe even with a light touch of insulting the style or the haircut from the other girl. " Great, can´t you get rid of the tension like anyone else. Have sex with someone or take your hands I don´t care. But don´t take it out on each other. Well unless you like it".

" Hey, I´m not swinging that way. And then especially not with Evans", Kyle felt insulted at the dig, even though he had no reason for that. He was married with a wonderful woman and he was expecting a child in a few weeks. But his sister hadn´t forgot that he had told her years ago that he sometimes had a flash of a naked Max in his head since he had been getting healed from the alien.

Max glared at the guy besides him, clearly wishing that he would get something nasty. Strangly it didn´t appear so serious like it had this afternoon when both men had been near each other. " Like you´re my type. I like my men dark, brooding and close mouthed".

Immediately Kyle and Maria turned to Michael, who in response threw them an icy glance, obviously getting the joke. He wasn´t like that and the last person he would think in that way would be Max. Alone the thought was making him uncomfortable. Thankfully he was straight and only interested in women, well one especially. " Don´t say it!".

" But he totally described you to a T. Maybe we can arrange something nice for you two lovebirds", Maria was delightfully surprised about the slightly friendly way everyone behaved in her presence. Either her yelling was finally getting somewhere or they were just keeping up front to not piss her off.

Michael growled deep in his throat shooting daggers at her and then at the other two males, who were trying to refrain from laughing at the way his expression darkened at the implication. He didn´t like it when people were making fun of him, even if those people were his friends. " Ha ha, I think I will go to sleep now, before I´ll do something unthinkable".

Maria faced her brother and Max with an amused expression, making a funny face. She was so glad to have a little distraction after the serious talk she had behind her. And it was so good to see that her friends were nicely fitting into her family, even if they had started with slightly difficulties. " Oh oh, we have to be careful before Mount Guerin will explode. Get yourself in safety now!".

" Good night", Michael turned around and made his way back inside, wondering how long it would take Maria to follow him. Trying to keep a straight face he heard her wishing the other two men a good night as well before he noticed her steps going after him. Seconds later she was at his side, clearly afraid to have said something wrong. Silly girl. " So how is it to be a mother?".

Maria was a little take aback from the question, having not expected that he would ask her that, especially after everything she had told him already. But it was finally an answer that wasn´t so hard to explain and she was willing to share with him, because it was something great. Even if she had to admit the beginning had been horrible, with all those endless sleepness nights, the crying, the walking around, the talking nonstop and then the smiles, the happy gurgles and the first moment he had told her mama. " It´s wonderful. Although Xander and Cordelia can drive me crazy on occasions. But they´re good kids and I love them very much".

Michael saw the glowing in her eyes and he knew that she had never been more beautiful than at this moment. She was appearing like an angel and in a place like this it was sticking out. But despite the happiness there was still something darkly hidden. " They love you, too", he noticed her small smile and realized that it wouldn´t hold, because his next sentence could destroy her good mood. " I heard Kyle saying something, that you can´t get pregnant. What happened?".

" Liz. She almost gutted me like a fish. She had slashed me from my cleavage to my lower abdomen. When the others healed me they hadn´t enough energy to complete the process and I still have a scar. When they brought me to sickbay and the doctors there examined me, they told me that my abdomen was damaged beyong repair. It would heal, but it would never be useful again", that had been biggest blow and she had needed a lot of time, a lot of tears and a lot of screaming to get over the fact that she wouldn´t be pregnant or feel a child growing inside her like every women experienced it. Rath had been there, listening calmy at her hurtful words she spat at him, blaming him for saving her. More than a few times she told him that he should have let her die. But one day Ava came into her room, showing her little Xander and putting the small guy in her arms. In the moment he was grasping her finger and snuggled his head over her heart, something inside her snapped and she promised that she would take care of the tiny creature in her arms.

Michael finally knew why she hated Liz so much and truthfully he couldn´t blame her for that. If someone he had loved like a sibling would have taken away something so important from him he would have done a lot more than just hate the said person. He would have probably found a way to take revenge and it wouldn´t have been a pretty sight either. " I´m so sorry to hear that".

Maria shrugged her shoulders. It had been a long time ago and she was over the fact that she would never have a child on her own. She knew now that it wasn´t good to cry over spilled milk. " So, did you found out a few things about your past life from Larek? Did he tell you anything?".

" No, nothing that we haven´t heard before", Michael was confused why she asked that like she knew something that he didn´t. But then he remembered that Rath had told him that they were more alien and could remember more than the Roswell four. " Is there a reason that you´re asking that?".

Maria startled for a moment, trying to find a plausible lie she could dish him out and coming up empty. She immediately noticed that he realized that there was something she was not telling him. Thankfully she was saved from embarrassing herself with some excuse when she saw Rath heading hurriedly towards them and she instantly knew that something was wrong. Quickening her pace she met him halfway. " What is it?".

Rath ignored the alarm in her voice and took her hands, making a fruitless attempt to calm her down. He hated to see her eyes showing such a fear, a fear to lose anyone else to something she couldn´t destroy. But in that case she overreacted and it wasn´t so bad like she thought it was. " Cordelia woke up, she wants to have her sister near".

" The nightmare again?".

Rath nodded his head, shooting a quick glance at his dupe when the other man stopped at their side. He didn´t know how much Michael knew about Jim and Amy, so he didn´t know how much he could say. But after he noticed the questioning expression, he realized that Maria hadn´t even told him everything. " Yeah, Laurie and Ava are with her right now. But she wants you".

Maria was sure that her sister was probably hysteric and crying her eyes out. The small girl was too young to know the differences about a nightmare and a memory, although in that case it was probably both, because Cordelia usually dreamed about the day her parents died very painfully. " Okay. Thank you", kissing his cheek she dashed in the other direction.

" That happens a lot, does it?", Michael was slowly getting the hang of what had been going on, although there was still a lot he had to learn. But he wasn´t as clueless as he had been hours ago, so that was good.

Rath had almost forgotten that his dupe was still there, having been too busy with watching after Maria. He was worried about her and not just because her old lover was back in town, making it obvious that he wanted her back. No it was the way she was shutting him out when it came to topic of the way her parents died. He would be relieved when he finally knew what was weighting so heavily on her. " Yep. Cordelia had been present when Jim and Amy died. And she had almost witnessed her sister walking into a burning building, that could be easily give any child bad dreams".

Michael shook his head and he wondered how a human being could stand so much misery without losing faith or the hope that someday everything would be better. If it had been him, he would have let himself get killed on some dangerous mission. But that was him and he had always known that Maria was better than him. " She´s so amazing".

" You´re telling me", Rath immediately knew who his dupe meant. He was most of the time stunned how much she meant to him and that she was still sticking to him. He was asking himself sometimes what he had done to deserve such a perfect creature in his life and when she would realized that she was too good for him and leave. " Hey, there´s a hockey game in a few minutes, you interested?".

Michael was slightly taken aback about the offer, having thought that his dupe would want to avoid him as much as possible. But it would give them the perfect opportunity to talk about a few things and clear the air between them. And maybe they could compare notes with each other. " I´m game".

**Two hours later**

Maria was silently closing the door to her sister´s room after she had finally managed to get the girl to sleep again. She was exhausted and just wanted to sleep herself not to mention give her voice a little rest from all the talking and the singing to Cordelia. Quietly chuckling she was amused about that fact. In her teenage years she had been able to talk for hours without any problems and nowadays she was glad when she just could be silent. But she wouldn´t say that out loud, because Rath would just make fun of her. Walking through the dark hall she enjoyed the serenity engulfing the compound at night and she was more than ready to fall face first into her fluffy pillows and stay in bed for days without talking to anyone. Opening the door to her room she was a little surprised when she saw that Rath was still awake, reading a book in their bed and obviously waiting for her. He instantly put the novel away and glanced at her.

" Is she asleep again?".

Maria closed the door before she went to the wardrobe and peeled herself out of the clothes, glad to get out of the dirty things. Putting them in the hamper besides her, she was not in the rush to get dressed again. " Yeah, after I promised her that I would never leave her and sang a few lullaby´s".

Rath saw the slump of her shoulders and he waited everyday for her to break down from the pressure and the many hits she had already taken. But she was too stubborn to let anyone see that she wasn´t up to take over the responsibility and part of it was probably the anger at the man having taken so much from her. " How bad was it this time?".

" The worst. This time I went into the fire before you had the chance to stop me and I died with Jim and my mother", Maria had pulled her favourte tank top out of the bottom drawer together with one of Rath´s boxershort. Taking her time she dressed slowly, knowing that he wanted to know what happened before and the others came. But not even him would manage to get her to talk about it.

Rath was sure that she was stalling, because she usually didn´t need so much time to get into two pieces of clothes. Getting out of bed he walked towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her around. She needed to let everything out before it would destroy her and he wouldn´t let that happen as long as he was breathing. " When are you going to stop pretending that you´re not hurting? I can see in your eyes that you´re in pain and I want to help you".

Maria felt tears threatening to appear and she tried to swallow the thick lump in her throat. She knew he just meant well and she found his caring nature so sweet. But she wasn´t ready to talk about the worst hours of her life, because then she had to admit that she wasn´t such a great person like anyone thought. " Then stop harrassing me about it. When I´m ready to open up to you, I will do it. Until that happens I want you to drop the topic".

" Fine", Rath didn´t want to fight with her and he was sure that it would come to that if he would continue bugging her. Pulling her close, he felt her relax in his embrace and he was glad that he still had the calming effect on her. Stroking her head and her back, he noticed her body molding against his. Quickly he tried to think about something to distract him and his friend, because it was more than obvious that they wouldn´t be active tonight. " When are we going to tell Michael about Shox?".

Maria was positive that she wouldn´t get tired of feeling his strong arms around her, holding her like she was the only woman on this world he could ever love. Inhaling his scent, she was stunned to smell the slight aroma of beer on his breath and she knew that he had been having fun with the guys again. " I don´t know. I mean I don´t want to overwhelm him with the infomation. He has a lot to digest, so I don´t think it´s good to hit him with more news".

Rath led her in the direction of the bed, making sure that they didn´t stumble or hit something. He wanted her to rest more, maybe give her a time out for a few days. But seeing as one problem chased the other he was sure that she wouldn´t even think about abanding all of her assignments. " But we have to do it soon, because I´m sure if we don´t do it, Shox will do it".

" Okay, you talk to Shox and I will prepare Michael about the fact that he´s meeting the son he and Isabel have created".

TBC


End file.
